THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


^T"^^ 


SPECIMENS 


OF 


AMERICAN  ELOQUENCE. 


SPECIMENS 


OF 


AMERICAN    ELOQUENCE 


CONSISTING  OF  CHOICE  SELECTIONS 


FROM   THE 


PRODUCTIONS  OF  THE  MOST  DISTINGUISHED 


AMERICAN  ORATORS. 


"^^^ 


MIDDLETOWN: 

PUBLISHED  BY  E.  HUNT  &  CO. 

1837. 


Entered  according  to  Act   of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836,  by 

E.  HUi\T  &  CO. 

In  the  Clerk's  Ofl5ce  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut, 


WllLrAM    D.    STARR, 

Pnnt....Middletown. 


r/Y 


PUBLISHERS'   PREFACE. 

It  is  a  remark  of  Cicero,  which  has  been  often  quoted, 
that  "  Eloquence  is  the  tender  offspring  of  a  free  Constitu- 
tion." In  proof  of  its  justness,  our  own  country  may  well 
be  cited  as  an  example ;  for  from  the  first  day  that  the 
separate  independence  of  the  American  Colonies  wa# 
aofitated  in  debate,  the  annals  of  our  literature  have  beenV 
rich  in  the  choicest  specimens  of  soul-stirring  Eloquence.  ^ 
American  Eloquence  set  in  motion  and  urged  on  the  Revo- 
lution ; — it  sustained  our  invaluable  Constitution  against 
the  overthrow  with  which  it  was  threatened  from  indiffer- 
ence and  dissenting  timidity  ; — and  it  is  believed  that  no 
country  could  ever  boast  a  more  brilliant  list  of  eloquent 
cotemporary  names  than  now  adorn  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  and 
the  legislative  halls  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  difficult  task  of  making  selections  from  the  multi 
farious  materials  which  presented  themselves  to  the  editor 
his  choice  has  been  decided  by  the  dignity  and  importance 
of  the  subjects  discussed,  the  justness  of  the  views  advan- 
ced, and  the  literary  merit  of  the  productions. 


*^. 


VI  PREFACE. 

It  is  the  belief  of  the  pubUshers  that  in  the  following 
pages,  they  present  to  the  public  a  volume  most  highly 
creditable  to  the  intellect  of  our  country.  The  reason  of 
this  excellence  is  obvious,.  The  institutions  and  condition 
of  our  country  are  such  as  especially  to  call  forth  and  pro. 
mote  talents  for  public  speaking.  Every  question  of  grave 
import,  or  doubtful  tendency,  is  carried,  not  at  the  bayonet's 
point,  or  by  royal  edict,  but  by  the  popular  voice,  after  the 
sharp  conflict  of  mind  with  mind.  On  this  account  too,  a 
volume  of  judicious  selections  from  American  Eloquence, 
becomes  a  commentary  upon  our  laws,  religion,  and  politics, 
which  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  freeman  who  would 
honorably  discharge  the  duties  of  a  citizen  and  a  patriot. 
It  need  scarcely  be  remarked  that  such  a  work  is  eminently 
suited  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  young,  not  only  for 
the  manly  views  and  the  pure  moraUty  which  its  pages  con- 
tain, but  as  affording  some  of  the  brightest  models  for  their 
study  and  imitation.  Even  the  student  of  eloquence  whose 
mind  has  been  enriched  by  the  stores  of  antiquity,  may 
dwell  with  daily  and  nightly  devotion  upon  a  work  embra- 
cing within  its  varied  pages,  specimens  of  the  transparent 
musical  flow  of  Everett  and  Story — the  impetuous  torrent 
of  Beecher — the  scathing  coruscations  of  Burges — and  the 
thunder  of  Webster.  He  may  advantageously  lay  aside  his 
rules  and  treatises,  to  sit  often  and  long  at  the  feet  of  these 
masters  of  the  "art  of  persuasion,"  that  by  an  habitual  con- 
templation  of  their  excellence  he  may  be  transformed  into  the 
hiame  image.  Let  him  learn  too  from  their  example  not  to 
be  soon  weary  of  his  exertions,  or  faint  in  his  labors,  what- 
e  vcr  they   mo v  be.     Nor  will  he,  if  he  duly  estimates  the 


PRKFACE.  VH 

■dignity  and  importance  of  the  art  which  he  is  striving  to 

attain — 

"  the  God-like  power 
Of  moulding,  wielding,  fettering,  banding 
The  minds  of  millions  till  they  move  like  one." 

An  art  which  stands  forth  the  hand  maid  of  benevolence 
and  the  protectress  of  improvement ;  which  pleads  the  cause 
of  injured  humanity,  and  wings  the  shafts  of  sacred  truth. 
And  when  the  day  of  peril  comes,  (and  who,  though  he 
hopes,  can  say  he  believes  also,  that  the  foreign  tyrant  or 
the  traitor  demagogue  will  never  think  to  "  change  the  fair 
face  of  our  American  Liberty  into  ashes,")  at  that  day  she 
will  constitute  a  defence  surer  than  the  rocky  harbors  which 
gird  our  coast,  and  oppose  to  the  aggressor  resistance  more 
formidable  than  fleets  and  armies.  Caesar  feared  Cicero 
more  than  all  the  legions  of  Pompey,  and  never  trembled 
but  under  the  Orator's  terrible  denunciation. 

With  so  many  of  the  brightest  models  among  our  coun- 
trymen, and  so  many  advantages  afforded  for  its  cultivation, 
genuine  Eloquence  surely  will  not  be  suffered  to  languish 
among  us.  Should  the  following  compilation  advance  this 
noble  cause,  even  in  the  humblest  degree,  its  object  will  be 
fully  attained. 


CONTENTS. 


.-^»-f-»— 


Page 
Extract  from  Mr.  Webster's  Discourse  at  Plymouth,  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  first  settlement  of  New-England 13 

Mr.  Warren's  Oration  at  Boston,  March  5th,  1772,  the  Anniversary 
of  the  "Boston  Massacre," 38 

Extract  from  Mr.  Hancock's  Oration,  March  5th,  1774,  the  Anniver- 
sary of  the  "  Boston  Massacre," 49 

Extract  from  Mr.  Wilson's  Speech,  delivered  in  the  Convention  of 
Pennsylvania,  January,  1775, 56 

Extract  from  Gov.  Livingston's  Address  to  the  Legislature  of  New- 
Jersey,  in  the  year  1777, 64 

Extract  from  Mr.  Webster's  Address,  at  the  laying  of  the  Corner 
Stone'of  the  Bunker-Hill  Monument,  1825, 72 

Mr.  Warren's  Oration  at  Boston,  March  6th,  1775,  the  Anniversary 
of  the  "  Boston  Massacre," 87 

Mr.  Henry's  Speech  in  the  Convention  of  Virginia,  March  23,  1775,  100 

Extract  from  Mr.  Story's  Discourse,  in  commemoration  of  the  first 
Settlement  of  Salem,  delivered  September  18th,  1828,      .        .        .104 

-Extract  from  Mr.  Gaston's  Address  at  Chapel-Hill,  June  20th,  1832,  123 

Extract  from  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermon  on  Duelling 130 

Extract  from  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermon  on  the  Practicalness  of  a  Reform 
in  Morals, 133 

Extract  from  Mr.  Wilson's  Speech,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  delivered  in  the  Convention  of  Pennsylvania,  Novem- 
ber 26,  1787,        .,......;,,  147 


3t  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
Mb.  Hamilton's  Speech,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, delivered  in  the  Convention  of  New- York,  June  20,  1788,        .  153 

Extract  from  Mr.  Hamilton's  Speech,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  dehvered  in  the  Convention  of  New- York,  June  27, 
1788, 158 

Extract  from  Mr.  Henry's  Speech,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  delivered[in  the  Convention  of  Virginia,  June  5th,  1778,  164 

Extract  from  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermon  on  Atheism 172 

Extract  from  Mr.  Story's  Discourse,  on  the  Dedication  of  Mount 
Auburn  Cemetery 188 

Extract  from  Mr.  Henry's  Speech,  on  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution,  deliveredintheConventionof  Virginia,  June  8th,  1788,  196 

Extract  from  Mr.  Webster's  Eulogy,  on  Adams  and  Jefferson,         .  204 

Extract  from  Mr.  Mason's  Eulogy  on  Washington,  .        .        .210 

Extract  from  Mr.  Everett's  Eulogy  on  Lafayette,      ....  213 

Extract  from  President  Humphrey's  Inaugural  Discourse,        .        .  219 

Extract  from  Mr.  Everett's  Oration  at  Plymouth 227 

Extract  from  Mr.  Bates'  Speech  on  the  Indian  Bill,  delivered  in 
Congress,  May,  1830, 234 

Extract  from  Mr.  Humphrey's  Discourse  on  Indian  Rights,        .       240 

Extract  from  Mr.  Ames'  Speech  on  the  British  Treaty,        .        .        250 

Extract  from  Mr.  Everett's  Oration  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  So- 
ciety, at  Cambridge,     .        .        .        .     ■ 253 

Extract  from  Mr.  Biirges'  Speech  on  the  claim  of  Marigny  D'Aute- 
rive,  delivered  in  Congress,  January,  1829, 266 

Extract  from  Mr.  Burges'  Speech  on  the  Tariff,  delivered  in  Con- 
gress, in  the  year  1829, 269 

Extract  from  Mr  Sparks'  Sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Hon.  William 
Pinckney, 273 

Red  Jacket's  Speech  to  an  American  Missionary,        .        .        .        278 

Extract  from  Mr.  Van  Burcn's  Speech  on  the  Bill  for  the  Relief  of 
the  Officers  of  tiie  Revolutionary  Army,  delivered  in  Congress,     .    282 

Extract  from  Mr.  Wirt's  Address  to  the  .Students  of  Rutger's  Col- 
lege,        284 

Extract  from  Mr.  Burges'  Speech  on  the  Bill  for  the  Relief  of  the 
Survivors  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  delivered  in  Congress,  Jan- 
uary, 1827 287 


C0NTHNT3.  XI 

Page. 
Extract  from  Mr.  Buckminster's  Sermon  on  the  reasonableness  of 
Christian  Faith, 293 

Extract  from  Mr.  Buckminster's  Sermon  on  the  importance  of  Chris- 
tian Faith, 297 

Extract  from  Mr.  Hopkinson's  Speech  in  defence  of  Samuel  Chase,  302 

Mr.  Dexter's  Argument  in  defence  of  Thomas  O.  Selfridge,        .        305 

Extract  from  Mr.  Webster's  Argument  in  defence  of  James  Prescott,  315 

Extract  from  Dr.   Channing's  Discourse  on  the  Ministry  for  the 
Poor, 319 

Speech  of  Minavavana,  Chief  of  the  Chippewa  Indians,        .       .  325 

Extract  from  Mr.  Everett's  Speech  on  Temperance,      .        .        .  327 

Extract  from  President  Jackson's  Proclamation,    ....  332 

Extract  from  Mr.  Van  Buren's  Speech  on  the  Panama  Mission,    .  339  - 

Extract  from  Mr.  Webster's  Speech  on  the  Panama  Mission,        .  342 

Extract  from  Mr.  Q.uincy's  Speech  on  the  Bill  for  increasing  the 
Army, 346 

Extract  from  Mr  Clay's  Speech  on  the    Bill  for  increasing  the 
Army, 352 

Extract  from  Dr.  Fisk's  Discourse  before  the  Legislature  of  Ver- 
mont,        356 

Extract  from  Dr.  Beecher's  Plea  for  the  West,  ....  360 
Extract  from  Verplanck's  Historical  Discourse,  ....  363 
Extract  from  Dr.  Nott's  Eulogy  on  Hamilton,      .       .       .       .367 


EXTRACT    FR03I   A   DISCOURSE 

DELIVERED  AT  PLYMOUTH,  IN  COMMEMORATION  OF  THE 
FIRST  SETTLEMENT  OF  NEW-ENGLAND. 

BY  D.iNIEL  WEBSTER. 

Let  us  rejoice  that  we  behold  this  day.  Let  us  be  thank- 
ful  that  we  have  Uved  to  see  the  bright  and  happy  breaking 
of  the  auspicious  moi-n,  which  commences  the  third  century 
of  the  history  of  New  England.  Auspicious  indeed  ;  bring, 
ing  a  happiness  beyond  the  common  allotment  of  Providence 
to  men ;  full  of  present  joy,  and  gilding  with  bright  beams 
the  prospect  of  futurity,  is  the  dawn  that  awakens  us  to  the 
commemoration  of  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

Living  at  an  epoch  which  naturally  marks  the  progress  of 
the  history  of  our  native  land,  we  have  come  hither  to  cele- 
brate the  great  event  with  which  that  history  commenced. 
Forever  honored  be  this,  the  place  of  our  fathers'  refuge ! 
Forever  remembered  the  day  which  saw  them,  weary  and 
distressed,  broken  in  everything  but  spirit,  poor  in  all  but 
faith  and  courage,  at  last  secure  from  the  dangers  of  wintry 
seas,  and  impressing  this  shore  with  the  first  footsteps  of 
civilized  man ! 

It  is  a  noble  faculty  of  our  nature  which  enables  us  to 
connect  our  thoughts,  our  sympathies,  and  our  happiness, 
with  what  is  distant  in  place  or  time  ;  and,  looking  before 
and  after,  to  hold  communion  at  once  with  our  ancestoi"s 
and  our  posterity.  Human  and  mortal  although  we  are,  we 
are  nevertheless  not  mere  insulated  beings',  without  relation 
to  the  past  or  the  future.  Neither  the  point  of  time,  nor 
the  spot  of  earth,  in  wliich  we  physically  live,  bounds  our 
2 


14  Webster's   discourse. 

rational  and  intellectual  enjoyments.  We  live  in  the  past  by 
a  knowledge  of  its  history  ;  and  in  the  future  by  hope  and 
anticipation.  By  ascending  to  an  association  with  our  an- 
cestors ;  by  contemplating  their  example  and  studying  their 
character  ;  by  partaking  their  sentiments,  and  imbibing  their 
spirit ;  by  accompanying  them  in  their  toils,  by  sympathiz- 
ing  in  their  sufferings,  and  rejoicing  in  their  successes  and 
their  triumphs,  we  mingle  our  own  existence  with  theirs,  and 
seemjto  belong  to  their  age.  We  become  their  contemporaries, 
Uve  the  lives  which  they  lived,  endure  what  they  endured, 
and  partake  in  the  rewards  which  they  enjoyed.  And  in 
like  manner,  by  running  along  the  line  of  future  time,  by 
contemplating  the  probable  fortunes  of  those  who  are  com- 
ing  after  us  ;  by  attempting  something  which  may  promote 
their  happiness,  and  leave  some  not  dishonorable  memorial 
of  ourselves  for  their  regard,  when  we  shall  sleep  with  the 
fathers,  we  protract  our  own  earthly  being,  and  seem  to 
crowd  whatever  is  future,  as  well  as  all  that  is  past,  into  the 
narrow  compass  of  our  earthly  existence.  As  it  is  not  a 
vain  and  false,  but  an  exalted  and  religious  imagination, 
which  leads  us  to  raise  our  thoughts  from  the  orb,  which, 
amidst  this  universe  of  worlds,  the  Creator  has  given  us  to 
inhabit,  and  to  send  them  with  something  of  the  feeUng 
which  nature  prompts,  and  teaches  to  be  proper  among  chil- 
dren of  the  same  Eternal  Parent,  to  the  contemplation  of 
the  myriads  of  fellow  beings,  with  which  his  goodness  has 
peopled  the  infinite  of  space ; — so  neither  is  it  false  or  vain 
to  consider  ourselves  interested  and  connected  with  our 
whole  race,  through  all  time ;  allied  to  our  ancestors ;  allied 
to  our  posterity ;  closely  compacted  on  all  sides  with  others  ; 
ourselves  being  but  links  in  the  great  chain  of  being,  which 
begins  with  the  origin  of  our  race,  runs  onward  through  its 
successive  generations, binding  together  the  past,  the  present, 
and  the  future,  and  terminating  at  last,  with  the  consumma- 
tion  of  all  things  earthly,  at  the  throne  of  God. 

There  may  be,  and  there  often  is,  indeed,  a  regard  for  an- 


Webster's    discourse.  15 

cestry,  which  nourishes  only  a  weak  pride ;  as  there  is  also 
a  care  for  posterity,  which  only  disguises  an  habitual  ava- 
rice, or  hides  the  workings  of  a  low  and  groveUing  vanity. 
But  there  is  also  a  moral  and  philosophical  respect  for  our 
ancestors,  which  elevates  the  character  and  improves  the 
heart.  Next  to  the  sense  of  religious  duty  and  moral  feeUng, 
I  hardly  know  what  should  bear  with  stronger  obligation  on 
a  liberal  and  enlightened  mind,  than  a  consciousnesss  of 
alliance  with  excellence  which  is  departed ;  and  a  conscious- 
ness, too,  that  in  its  acts  and  conduct,  and  even  in  its  sen- 
timents and  thoughts,  it  may  be  actively  operating  on  the 
happiness  of  those  who  come  after  it.  Poetry  is  found  to 
have  few  stronger  conceptions,  by  which  it  would  affect  or  . 
overwhelm  the  mind,  than  those  in  which  it  presents  the 
moving  and  speaking  image  of  the  departed  dead  to  the 
senses  of  the  Uving.  This  belongs  to  poetry,  only  because 
it  is  congenial  to  our  nature.  Poetry  is,  in  this  respect,  but 
the  handmaid  of  true  philosophy  and  morality;  it  deals  with 
us  as  human  beings,  naturally  reverencing  those  whose  visible 
connexion  with  this  state  of  existence  is  severed,  and  who 
may  yet  exercise  we  know  not  what  sympathy  with  our- 
selves ; — and  when  it  carries  us  forward  also,  and  shows  us 
the  long  continued  result  of  all  the  good  we  do,  in  the  pros- 
perity of  those  who  follow  us,  till  it  bears  us  from  ourselves, 
and  absorbs  us  in  an  intense  interest  for  what  shall  happen 
to  the  generations  after  us,  it  speaks  only  in  the  language  of 
our  nature,  and  affects  us  with  sentiments  which  belong  to 
us  as  human  beings. 

Standing  in  this  relation  to  our  ancestors  and  our  posterity, 
we  are  assembled  on  this  memorable  spot,  to  perform  the 
duties  which  that  relation,  and  the  present  occasion,  impose 
upon  us.  We  have  come  to  this  Rock,  to  record  here  our 
homage  for  our  Pilgrim  Fathers ;  our  sympathy  in  their 
sufferings ;  our  gratitude  for  their  labors  ;  our  admiration  of 
their  virtues ;  our  veneration  for  their  piety  ;  and  our  attach, 
ment  to  those  principles  of  civil  and  religious  hberty,  which 


16  *  Webster's   discoitrse, 

they  encountered  the  dangers  of  the  ocean,  the  storms  of 
heaven,  the  violence  of  savages,  disease,  exile,  and  famine,  to 
enjoy  and  to  establish. — And  we  would  leave  here,  also,  for  the 
generations  which  are  rising  up  rapidly  to  fill  our  places,  some 
proof,  that  we  have  endeavored  to  transmit  the  great  inher- 
itance unimpaired  ;  that  in  our  estimate  of  public  principles, 
and  private  virtue  ;  in  our  veneration  of  religion  and  piety  ; 
in  our  devotion  to  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  in  our  regard 
to  whatever  advances  human  knowledge,  or  improves  human 
happiness,  we  are  not  altogether  unworthy  of  our  origin. 

There  is  a  local  feelinjr  connected  with  this  occasion,  too 
strong  to  be  resisted  ;  a  sort  of  genius  of  the  ■place,  which 
inspires  and  awes  us.  We  feel  that  we  are  on  the  spot, 
where  the  first  scene  of  our  history  was  laid  ;  where  the 
hearths  and  altars  of  New  England  were  first  placed  ;  where 
Christianity,  and  civilisation,  and  letters  made  their  first 
lodgement,  in  a  vast  extent  of  country,  covered  mth  a  wil- 
derness,  and  peopled  by  roving  barbarians.  We  are  here,  at 
the  season  of  the  year  at  which  the  event  took  place.  The 
imagination  irresistibly  and  rapidly  di-aws  around  us  the 
principle  features,  and  the  leading  characters  in  the  original 
scene.  We  cast  our  eyes  abroad  on  the  ocean,  and  we  see 
where  the  little  bark,  with  the  interesting  group  upon  its 
deck,  made  its  slow  progress  to  the  shore.  We  look  around 
us,  and  behold  the  hills  and  promontories,  where  the  anxious 
eyes  of  our  fathers  first  saw  the  places  of  habitation  and  of 
rest.  We  feel  the  cold  which  benumbed,  and  listen  to  the 
winds  which  pierced  them.  Beneath  us  is  the  Rock,  on  which 
New  England  received  the  feet  of  the  Pilgrims.  We  seem  even 
to  behold  them,  as  they  struggle  with  the  elements,  and,  with 
toilsome  efforts  gain  the  shore.  We  listen  to  the  chiefs  in 
council ;  we  see  the  unexampled  exhibition  of  female  fortitude 
and  resignation ;  we  hear  the  whisperings  of  youthful  impa- 
tience, and  we  see  what  a  painter  of  our  own  has  also  rep- 
resented by  his  pencil,  chilled  and  shivering  childhood, 
houseless,  but  for  a  mother's  arms,  couchless  but  for  a  mother's 


Webster's   discourse.  17 

breast,  till  our  own  blood  almost  freezes.  The  mild  dignity 
of  Carver,  and  of  Bradford  ;  the  decisive  and  soldierlike 
air  and  manner  of  Standish  ;  the  devout  Brewster  ;  the 
enterprising  Allerton  ;  the  general  firmness  and  thought- 
fi.dness  of  the  whole  band ;  their  conscious  joy  for  dangers 
escaped  ;  their  deep  solicitude  about  dangers  to  come  ;  their 
trust  in  Heaven  ;  their  high  religious  faith,  full  of  confidence 
and  anticipations  :  all  of  these  seem  to  belong  to  this  place, 
and  to  be  present  upon  this  occasion,  to  fill  us  with  reverence 
and  admiration. 

The  settlement  of  New  England  by  the  colony  which  landed 
here  on  the  twenty-second  of  December,  sixteenhundred  and 
twenty,  although  not  the  first  European  establishment  in 
what  now  constitutes  the  United  States,  was  yet  so  peculiar  in 
its  causes  and  character,  and  has  been  followed  and  must  still 
be  followed,  by  such  consequences,  as  to  give  it  a  high  claim 
to  lasting  commemoration.  On  these  causes  and  consequen- 
ces, more  than  on  its  immediately  attendant  circumstances, 
its  importance  as  an  historical  event  depends.  Great  actions 
and  striking  occurrences,  having  excited  a  temporary  admi- 
ration,  often  pass  away  and  are  forgotten,  because  they 
leave  no  lasting  results,  affecting  the  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness  of  communities.  Such  is  frequently  the  fortune  of  the 
most  brilliant  military  achievements.  Of  the  ten  thousand 
battles  which  have  been  fought  ;  of  all  the  fields  fertilized  with 
carnage ;  of  the  banners  which  have  been  bathed  in  blood ; 
of  the  warriors  who  had  hoped  that  they  had  risen  from  the 
field  of  conquest  to  a  glory  as  bright  and  as  durable  as  the 
stars,  how  few  that  continue  long  to  interest  mankind !  The 
victory  of  yesterday  is  reversed  by  the  defeat  of  to-day  ;  the 
star  of  military  glory,  rising  like  a  meteor,  like  a  meteor  has 
fallen ;  disgrace  and  disaster  hang  on  the  heels  of  conquest 
and  renown  ;  victor  and  vanquished  presently  pass  away  to 
oblivion,  and  the  world  goes  on  in  its  course,  with  the  loss 
only  of  so  many  lives  and  so  much  treasure. 

But  if  this  be  frequently,  or  generally,  the  fortune  of  mil- 
1* 


18  Webster's   discourse. 

itary  achievements,  it  is  not  always  so.  There  are  enter- 
prises, miUtary  as  well  as  civil,  which  sometimes  check  the 
current  of  events,  give  a  new  turn  to  human  affairs,  and 
transmit  their  consequences  through  ages.  We  see  their 
importance  in  their  results,  and  call  them  great  because  great 
things  follow.  There  have  been  battles  which  have  fixed 
the  fate  of  nations.  These  come  down  to  us  in  history  with  a 
solid  and  permanent  interest,  not  created  by  a  display  of 
glittering  armor,  the  rush  of  adverse  battalions,  the  sinking 
and  rising  of  pennons,  the  flight,  the  pursuit,  and  the  victory  ; 
but  by  their  effect  in  advancing  or  retarding  human  knowl- 
edge, in  overthrowing  or  establishing  despotism,  in  extending 
or  destroying  human  happiness.  When  the  traveller  pauses 
on  the  plain  of  Marathon,  what  are  the  emotions  which  most 
strongly  agitate  his  breast  ?  What  is  that  glorious  recollec- 
tion, which  thrills  through  his  frame,  and  suffuses  his  eyes  ? 
— Not,  I  imagine,  that  Grecian  skill  and  Grecian  valor  were 
here  most  signally  displayed ;  but  that  Greece  herself  was 
here  saved.  It  is,  because  to  this  spot,  and  to  the  event 
which  has  rendered  it  immortal,  he  refers  all  the  succeeding 
glories  of  the  republic.  It  is  because  if  that  day  had  gone 
otherwise,  Greece  had  perished.  It  is  because  he  perceives 
that  her  philosophers,  and  orators,  her  poets  and  painters, 
her  sculptors  and  architects,  her  governments  and  free  insti- 
tutions, point  backv/ard  to  Marathon,  and  that  their  future 
existence  seems  to  have  been  suspended  on  the  contingency, 
whether  the  Persian  or  the  Grecian  banner  should  wave 
victorious  in  the  beams  of  that  day's  setting  sun.  And  as 
his  imagination  kindles  at  the  retrospect,  he  is  transported 
back  to  the  interesting  moment,  he  counts  the  fearful  odds 
of  the  contending  hosts,  his  interest  for  the  result  ovei'-' 
whelms  him  ;  he  trembles,  as  if  it  were  still  uncertain,  and 
seems  to  doubt  whether  he  may  consider  Socrates  and  Plato, 
Demosthenes,  Sophocles  and  Phidias,  as  secure,  yet,  to  him- 
self and  to  the  world. 

"If  we  conquer,"  said  the  Athenian  commander  on  the 


Webster's   discoi'kse.  19 

morning  of  that  decisive  clay, — "  If  we  conquer,  we  shall 
make  Athens  the  greatest  city  of  Greece."  A  prophecy, 
how  well  fulfilled!— "If  God  prosper  us,"  might  have  been 
the  more  appropriate  language  of  our  Fathers,  when  they 
landed  upon  this  Rock  ; — "If  God  prosper  us,  we  shall  here 
beo-in  a  work  which  shall  last  for  ages  ;  we  shall  plant  here 
a  new  society,  in  the  principles  of  the  fullest  liberty,  and  the 
purest  religion :  we  shall  subdue  this  wilderness  which  is 
before  us  ;  we  shall  fill  this  region  of  the  great  continent, 
which  stretches  almost  from  pole  to  pole,  with  civihsation  and 
Christianity  ;  the  temples  of  the  true  God  shall  rise,  where 
now  ascends  the  smoke  of  idolatrous  sacrifice  ;  fields  and  gar- 
dens,  the  flowers  of  summer,  and  the  waving  and  golden . 
harvest  of  autumn,  shall  extend  over  a  thousand  hills,  and 
stretch  along  a  thousand  valleys,  never  yet,  since  the  creation, 
reclaimed  to  the  use  of  civilized  man.  We  shall  whiten  this 
coast  with  the  canvass  of  a  prosperous  commerce  ;  we  shall 
stud  the  long  and  winding  shore  with  an  hundred  cities. 
That  which  we  sow  in  weakness  shall  be  raised  in  strength. 
From  our  sincere  but  houseless  worship,  there  shall  spring 
splendid  temples  to  record  God's  goodness ;  from  the  simpli- 
city  of  our  social  union,  there  shall  arise  wise  and  politic 
constitutions  of  government,  full  of  the  liberty  which  we 
ourselves  bring  and  breathe ;  from  our  zeal  for  learning,  in- 
stitutions shall  spring  which  shall  scatter  the  light  of  knowl- 
edge  throughout  the  land,  and,  in  time,  paying  back  where 
they  have  borrowed,  shall  contribute  their  part  to  the  great 
aggregate  of  human  knowledge  ;  and  our  descendants,  through 
all  generations,  shall  look  back  to  this  spot,  and  to  this  hour, 
with  unabated  affection  and  regard."' 

It  is  now  five  and  forty  years,  since  the  growth  and  rising 
glory  of  America  were  portrayed  in  the  English  parliament, 
with  inimitable  beauty,  by  the  most  consummate  orator  of 
modern  times.  Going  back  somewhat  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  describing   our  progress  as  foreseen,  from  that 


20  WEBSTER^S     DISCOURSE. 

point,  by  his  amiable  friend  Lord  Bathurst,  then  Uving,  he 
spoke  of  the  wonderful  progress  which  America  had  made 
during  the  period  of  a  single  human  life.  There  is  no 
American  heart,  I  imagine,  that  does  not  glow,  both  with 
conscious  patriotic  pride,  and  admiration  for  one  of  the  hap- 
piest efforts  of  eloquence,  so  often  as  the  vision  of  "that  little 
speck,  scarce  visible  in  the  mass  of  national  interest,  a  small 
seminal  principle,  rather  than  a  formed  body,"  and  the  pro- 
gress of  its  astonishing  developement  and  growth,  are  re- 
called to  the  recollection.  But  a  stronger  feeling  might  be 
produced,  if  we  were  able  to  take  up  this  prophetic  descrip- 
tion where  he  left  it ;  and  placing  ourselves  at  the  point  of 
time  in  which  he  was  speaking,  to  set  forth  with  equal  fe- 
licity the  subsequent  progress  of  the  country.  There  is  yet 
among  the  living  a  most  distinguished  and  venerable  name, 
a  descendant  of  the  Pilgrims  ;  one  who  has  been  attended 
through  life  by  a  great  and  fortunate  genius ;  a  man  illus- 
trious by  his  own  great  merits,  and  favored  of  Heaven  in 
the  long  continuation  of  his  years.  The  time  when  the 
English  orator  was  thus  speaking  of  America,  preceded,  but 
by  a  few  days,  the  actual  opening  of  the  revolutionary  drama 
at  Lexington.  He  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  then  at  the  age 
of  forty,  was  among  the  most  zealous  and  able  defenders  of 
the  violated  rights  of  his  country.  He  seemed  already  to 
have  filled  a  full  measure  of  public  service,  and  attained  an 
honorable  fame.  The  moment  was  full  of  difliculty  and 
danger,  and  big  with  events  of  immeasureable  importance. 
The  country  was  on  the  very  brink  of  a  civil  war,  of  which 
no  man  could  foretell  the  duration  or  the  result.  Somethinfr 
more  than  a  courageous  hope,  or  characteristic  ardor,  would 
have  been  necessary  to  impress  the  glorious  prospect  on  his 
belief,  if,  at  that  moment,  before  the  sound  of  the  first  shock 
of  actual  war  had  reached  his  ears,  some  attendant  spirit 
had  opened  to  him  the  vision  of  the  future  ;  if  it  had  said  to 
him,  "  The  blow  is  struck,  and  America  is  severed  from  Eng- 
land forever  !"  if  it  had  informed  him,  that  he  himself,   the 


Webster's  discoukse.  21 

next  annual  revolution  of  the  sun,  should  put  his  own  hand 
to  the  great  instrument  of  Independence,  and  write  his  name 
where  all  nations  should  behold  it,  and  all  time  should  not 
efface  it ;  that  ere  long  he  himself  should  maintain  the  in- 
terest and  represent  the  sovereignty  of  his  new-born  coun- 
try, in  the  proudest  courts  of  Europe  ;  that  he  should  one 
day  exercise  her  supreme  magistracy  ;  that  he  should  yet 
live  to  behold  ten  millions  of  fellow  citizens  paying  him  the 
homage  of  their  deepest  gratitude  and  kindest  affections  ; 
that  he  should  see  distinguished  talent  and  high  public  trust 
resting  where  his  name  rested  ;  that  he  should  even  see  with 
his  own  unclouded  eyes,  the  close  of  the  second  century  of 
New  England,  who  had  begun  life  almost  with  its  com- 
mencement, and  lived  through  nearly  half  the  whole  history 
of  his  country  ;  and  that  on  the  morning  of  this  auspicious 
day,  he  should  be  found  in  the  political  councils  of  his  native 
state,  revising,  by  the  light  of  experience,  that  system  of  gov- 
ernment, which  forty  years  before  he  had  assisted  to  frame 
and  establish ;  and  great  and  happy  as  he  should  then  be- 
hold  his  country,  there  should  be  nothing  in  prospect  to 
cloud  the  scene,  nothing  to  check  the  ardor  of  that  confident 
and  patriotic  hope,  which  should  glow  in  his  bosom  to  the 
end  of  his  long  protracted  and  happy  life. 

It  would  far  exceed  the  limits  of  this  discourse,  even  to 
mention  the  principal  events  in  the  civil  and  political  histo- 
ry  of  New  England  during  the  century  ;  the  more  so,  as  for 
the  last  half  of  the  period,  that  history  has  been,  most  hap- 
pily,  closely  interwoven  with  the  general  history  of  the  Uni- 
ted  States.  New  England  bore  an  honorable  part  in  the 
wars  which  took  place  between  England  and  France.  The 
capture  of  Louisburg  gave  her  a  character  for  military 
achievement ;  and  in  the  war  which  terminated  with  the 
peace  of  1763,  her  exertions  on  the  frontiers  were  of  most 
essential  service  as  well  to  the  mother  country  as  to  all  the 
colonies. 

In  New  England  the  war  of  the  revolution  commencedi 


22  Webster's   discourse. 

I  address  those  who  remember  the  memorable  19th  of  April, 
1775  ;  who  shortly  after  saw  the  burning  spires  of  Charles- 
town;  who  beheld  the  deeds  of  Prescott,  and  heard  the  voice 
of  Putnam,  amidst  the  storm  of  war,  and  saw  the  generous 
Warren  fall,  the  first  distinguished  victim  in  the  cause  of 
liberty.  It  would  bo  superfluous  to  say,  that  no  portion  of 
the  country  did  more  than  the  states  of  New  England,  to 
bring  the  revolutionary  struggle  to  a  successful  issue.  It  is 
scarcely  less  to  her  credit,  that  she  saw  early  the  necessity 
of  a  closer  union  of  the  states,  and  gave  an  efficient  and  in- 
dispensable aid  to  the  establishment  and  organization  of  the 
federal  government. 

Perhaps  we  might  safely  say,  that  a  new  spirit,  and  a  new 
excitement  began  to  exist  here,  about  the  middle  of  the  last 
century.  To  whatever  causes  it  may  be  imputed,  there 
seems  then  to  have  commenced  a  more  rapid  improvement. 
The  colonies  had  attracted  more  of  the  attention  of  the 
mother  country,  and  some  renown  in  arms  had  been  acquired. 
Lord  Chatham  was  the  first  English  minister  who  attached 
high  importance  to  these  possessions  of  the  crown,  and  who 
foresaw  anything  of  their  future  growth  and  extension. 
His  opinion  was,  that  the  great  rival  of  England  was  chiefly 
to  be  feared  as  a  maritime  and  commercial  power,  and  to 
drive  her  out  of  North  America,  and  deprive  her  of  her  West 
India  possessions  was  a  leading  object  in  his  policy.  He 
dwelt  often  on  the  fisheries,  as  nurseries  for  the  British  sea- 
men, and  the  colonial  trade  as  furnishing  them  employment. 
The  war,  conducted  by  him  with  so  much  vigor,  terminated 
in  a  peace,  by  which  Canada  was  ceded  to  England.  The 
effect  of  this  was  immediately  visible  in  the  New  England 
colonies  ;  for  the  fear  of  Indian  hostilities  on  the  frontiers 
being  now  happily  removed,  settlements  went  on  with  an 
activity  before  that  time  altogether  unprecedented,  and 
public  affairs  wore  a  new  and  encouraging  aspect.  Shortly 
after  this  fortunate  termination  of  the  French  war,  the  inter- 
esting topics,  connected  with  the  taxation  of  America  by 


Webster's   discourse.  23 

the  British  ParUament  began  to  be  discussed,  and  the  atten- 
tion  and  all  the  faculties  of  the  people  were  drawn  towards 
them.  There  is  perhaps  no  portion  of  our  history  more  full 
of  interest  than  the  period  from  1760  to  the  actual  commence- 
ment of  the  war.  The  progress  of  opinion,  in  this  period, 
though  less  known,  is  not  less  important,  than  the  progress 
of  arms  afterwards.  Nothing  deserves  more  consideration 
than  those  events  and  discussions  which  affected  the  public 
sentiment,  and  settled  the  revolution  in  men's  minds,  befoi'e 
hostilities  openly  broke  out. 

Internal  improvement  followed  the  establishment,  and 
prosperous  commencement,  of  the  present  government. 
More  has  been  done  for  roads,  canals,  and  other  public  works, 
within  the  last  thirty  years,  than  in  all  our  former  history. 
In  the  first  of  these  particulars,  few  countries  excel  the 
New  England  States.  The  astonishing  increase  of  their 
navigation  and  trade  is  known  to  every  one,  and  now  be- 
longs to  the  history  of  our  national  wealth. 

We  may  flatter  ourselves,  too,  that  literature  and  taste 
have  not  been  stationary,  and  that  some  advancement  has 
been  made  in  the  elegant,  as  well  as  in  the  useful  arts. 

The  nature  and  constitution  of  society  and  government,  in 
this  country,  are  interesting  topics,  to  which  I  would  devote 
what  remains  of  the  time  allowed  to  this  occasion.  Of  our 
system  of  government,  the  first  thing  to  be  said,  is,  that  it  is 
really  and  practically  a  free  system.  It  originates  entirely 
with  the  people,  and  rests  on  no  other  foundation  than  their 
assent.  To  judge  of  its  actual  operation,  it  is  not  enough  to 
look  merely  at  the  form  of  its  construction.  The  practical 
character  of  government  depends  often  on  a  variety  of  con- 
siderations, besides  the  abstract  frame  of  its  constitutional 
organization.  Among  these,  are  the  condition  and  tenure 
of  property  ;  the  laws  regulating  its  alienation  and  descent ; 
the  presence  or  absence  of  a  military  power  ;  an  armed  or 
unarmed  yeomanry  ;  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  degree  of 
general  intelligence.     In  these  respects  it  cannot  be  denied, 


24  Webster's    discourse. 

that  the  circumstances  of  this  country  are  most  favorable  to 
the  hope  of  maintaining  the  government  of  a  great  nation 
on  principles  entirely  popular.  In  the  absence  of  miUtary 
power,  the  nature  of  government  must  essentially  depend  on 
the  manner  in  which  property  is  holden  and  distributed. 
There  is  a  natural  influence  belonging  to  property,  whether 
it  exists  in  many  hands  or  few  ;  and  it  is  on  the  rights  of 
property,  that  both  despotism  and  unrestrained  popular  vio- 
lence ordinarily  commence  their  attacks.  Our  ancestors 
began  their  system  of  government  here,  under  a  condition  of 
comparative  equality,  in  regard  to  wealth,  and  their  early 
laws  were  of  a  nature  to  favor  and  continue  this  equality. 
A  republican  form  of  government  rests,  not  more  on  poHtica 
constitutions,  than  on  those  laws  which  regulate  the  descent 
and  transmission  of  property. — Governments  like  ours  could 
not  have  been  maintained,  where  property  was  holden  accor- 
ding to  the  principles  of  the  feudal  system  ;  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  could  the  feudal  constitution  possibly  exist  with  us. 
Our  New  England  ancestors  brought  hither  no  great  capi- 
tals from  Europe  ;  and  if  they  had,  there  was  nothing  pro- 
ductive in  which  they  could  have  been  invested.  They  left 
behind  them  the  whole  feudal  policy  of  the  other  continent. 
They  broke  away,  at  once,  from  the  system  of  military  ser- 
vice, established  in  the  dark  ages,  and  which  continues, 
down  even  to  the  present  time,  more  or  less  to  affect  the 
condition  of  property  all  over  Europe.  They  came  to  a  new 
country.  There  were,  as  yet,  no  lands  yielding  rent,  and 
no  tenants  rendering  service.  The  whole  soil  was  unre- 
claimed from  barbarism.  They  were  themselves,  either  from 
their  original  condition,  or  from  the  necessity  of  their  com- 
mon  interest,  nearly  on  a  general  level,  in  respect  to  proper- 
ty.  Their  situation  demanded  a  parceling  out  and  division 
of  the  lands  ;  and  it  may  be  fairly  said,  that  this  necessary 
act  fixed  the  future  frame  and  form  of  tJieir  government. 
The  character  of  their  political  institutions  was  determined 
by  the  fundamental  laws  respecting  property.     The  laws 


Webster's  discourse.  25 

rendered  estates  divisible  amono;  sons  and  daughters.  The 
right  of  primogeniture,  at  first  Umited,  and  curtailed,  was  af- 
terwards aboUshed.  The  property  was  all  freehold.  The 
entailment  of  estates,  long  trusts,  and  the  other  processes  for 
fettering  and  tying  up  inheritances,  were  not  appUcable  to 
the  condition  of  society,  and  seldom  made  use  of.  On  the 
.contrary,  alienation  of  the  land  was  every  way  facilitated, 
even  to  the  subjecting  of  it  to  every  species  of  debt.  The 
estabUshment  of  public  registries,  and  the  simplicity  of  our 
forms  of  conveyance,  have  greatly  facilitated  (he  change  of 
real  estate  from  one  proprietor  to  another.  The  conse- 
quence of  all  these  causes  has  been,  a  great  subdivision  of 
the  soil,  and  a  great  equality  of  condition  ;  the  true  basis  " 
most  certainly  of  a  popular  government. — "  If  the  people," 
says  Harrington,  «  hold  three  parts  in  four  of  the  territory, 
it  is  plain  there  can  neither  be  any  single  person  nor  nobili- 
ty able  to  dispute  the  government  with  them ;  in  this  case, 
therefore,  except  force  he  interposed,  they  govern  them- 
selves." 

The  history  of  other  nations  may  teach  us  how  favorable 
to  pubUc  liberty  is  the  division  of  the  soil  into  small  freeholds, 
and  a  system  of  laws,  of  which  the  tendency  is,  without 
violence  or  injustice,  to  produce  and  to  preserve  a  degree  of 
equality  of  property.  It  has  been  estimated,  if  I  mistake  not, 
that  about  the  time  of  Henry  the  VII.,  four-fifths  of  the  land 
in  England  was  holden  by  the  great  barons  and  ecclesiastics. 
The  effects  of  a  growing  commerce  soon  afterwards  began 
to  break  in  on  this  state  of  things,  and  before  the  revolution 
in  1688,  a  vast  change  had  been  wrought.  It  may  be  thought 
probable,  that  for  the  last  half  century,  the  process  of  subdi- 
vision  in  England,  has  been  retarded  if  not  reversed  ;  that 
the  great  weight  of  taxation  has  compelled  many  of  the 
lesser  freeholders  to  dispose  of  their  estates,  and  to  seek  em- 
ployment in  the  army  and  navy ;  in  the  profession  of  civil 
life ;    in  commerce  or  in  the   colonies.     The  effect  of  this 

.on  the  British  constitution  cannot  but  be  most  unfavorable, 

3 


26  Webster's  discourse. 

A  few  large  estates  grow  larger ;  but  the  number  of  those 
who  have  no  estates  also  increases  ;  and  there  may  be  danger, 
lest  the  inequality  of  property  become  so  great,  that  those 
who  possess  it  may  be  dispossessed  by  force  ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  government  may  be  overturned. 

A  most  interesting  experiment  of  the  effect  of  a  subdivision 
of  property  on  government,  is  now  making  in  France.  It  is 
understood,  that  the  law  regulating  the  transmission  of  prop, 
erty,  in  that  country,  now  divides  it,  real  and  personal,  among 
all  the  children,equally  ,both  sons  and  daugliters;  and  that  there 
is,  also,  a  very  great  restraint  on  the  power  of  making  disposi- 
tions of  property  by  will.  It  has  been  supposed,  that  the  effects 
of  this  might  probably  be,  in  time,  to  break  up  the  soil  into  such 
small  subdivisions,  that  the  proprietors  would  be  too  poor  to 
resist  the  encroachments  of  executive  power.  I  think  far 
otherwise.  What  is  lost  in  individual  wealth,  will  be  more 
than  gained  in  numbers,  in  intelligence,  and  in  a  sympathy 
of  sentiment.  If,  indeed,  only  one,  or  a  few  landholders 
were  to  resist  the  crown,  like  the  barons  of  England,  they 
must,  of  course,  be  great  and  powerful  landholders  with  mul- 
litudes  of  retainers,  to  promise  success.  But  if  the  propri- 
etors of  a  given  extent  of  territory  are  summoned  to  resist- 
ance, there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  such  resistance  would 
be  less  forcible,  or  less  successful,  because  the  number  of  such 
proprietors  should  be  great.  Each  would  perceive  his  own 
importance,  and  his  own  interest,  and  would  feel  that  natu- 
ral elevation  of  character  which  the  consciousness  of  prop- 
erty inspires.  A  common  sentiment  would  unite  all,  and 
numbers  would  not  only  add  strength,  but  excite  enthusiasm. 
It  is  true,  that  France  possesses  a  vast  miUtary  force,  under 
the  direction  of  an  hereditary  executive  government ;  and 
military  power,  it  is  possible,  may  overthrow  any  government. 
It  is  in  vain,  however,  in  this  period  of  tlie  world,  to  look  for 
security  against  military  power,  to  the  arm  of  the  great  land- 
holders.  That  notion  is  derived  from  a  state  of  things  long 
.since  past ;  a  state  in  which  a  feudal  baron,  with  his  retain- 


Webster's    discourse.  27 

ers,  might  stand  against  the  sovereign,  who  was  himself  but 
the  greatest  baron,  and  his  retainers.  But  at  present,  what 
could  the  richest  landholder  do,  against  one  regiment  of  dis- 
ciplined troops  ]  Other  securities,  therefore,  against  the 
prevalence  of  military  power  must  be  provided.  Happily 
for  us,  we  are  not  so  situated  as  that  any  purpose  of  national 
defence  requires,  ordinarily  and  constantly,  such  a  military 
force  as  might  seriously  endanger  our  liberties. 

In  respect,  however,  to  the  recent  law  of  succession  in 
France,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  I  would,  presumptuously 
perhaps,  hazard  a  conjecture,  that  if  the  government  do  not 
change  the  law,  the  law,  in  half  a  century,  will  change  the  gov- 
ernment ;  and  that  this  change  will  be  not  in  favor  of  the  pow- 
er of  the  croAvn,  as  some  European  writers  have  supposed, 
but  against  it.  Those  writers  only  reason  upon  what  they 
think  correct  general  pi'inciples,  in  relation  to  this  subject. 
They  acknowledge  a  want  of  experience.  Here  we  have 
had  experience  ;  and  we  know  that  a  multitude  of  small  pro- 
prietors,  acting  with  intelligence,  and  that  enthusiasm  which 
a  common  cause  inspires,  constitute  not  only  a  formidable, 
but  an  invincible  power. 

The  true  principle  of  a  free  and  popular  government  would 
seem  to  be,  so  to  construct  it,  as  to  give  to  all,  or  at  least  to 
a  very  great  majority,  an  interest  in  its  preservation  :  to 
found  it,  as  other  things  are  founded,  on  men's  interest.  The 
stability  of  government  requires  that  those  who  desire  its 
continuance  should  be  more  powerful  than  those  who  desire 
its  dissolution.  This  power,  of  course,  is  not  always  to  be 
measured  by  mere  numbers. — Education,  wealth,  talents,  are 
all  parts  and  elements  of  the  general  aggregate  of  power  ;  but 
numbers,  nevertheless,  constitute  ordinarily  the  most  impor- 
tant consideration,  unless  indeed  there  be  a  military  force, 
in  the  hands  of  the  few,  by  which  they  can  control  the  many. 
In  this  country  we  have  actually  existing  systems  of  govern- 
ment, in  the  maintenance  of  which,  it  should  seem,  a  great 
majority,  both  in  numbers  and  in  other  means  of  power  and 


28  Webster's    discoukse. 

influence,  must  see  their  interest.  But  this  state  of  things 
is  not  brought  about  solely  by  written  political  constitutions, 
or  the  mere  manner  of  organizing  the  governmennt ;  but 
also  by  the  laws  which  regulate  the  descent  and  transmission 
of  property.  The  freest  government,  if  it  could  exist,  would 
not  be  long  acceptable,  if  the  tendency  of  the  laws  were  to 
create  a  rapid  accumulation  of  property  in  few  hands,  and  to 
render  the  great  mass  of  the  population  dependent  and  pen- 
nyless.  In  such  a  case,  the  popular  power  would  be  likely 
to  break  in  upon  the  rights  of  property,  or  else  the  influence 
of  property  to  limit  and  control  the  exercise  of  popular  pow- 
er.— Universal  suffi-age,  for  example,  could  not  long  exist  in 
a  community,  where  there  was  great  inequality  of  property. 
The  holders  of  estates  would  be  obliged  in  such  case,  either, 
in  some  way,  to  restrain  the  right  of  suffrage  ;  or  else  such 
right  of  suflfrage  would,  long  before,  divide  the  property.  In 
the  nature  of  things,  those  who  have  not  property,  and  see 
their  neighbors  possess  much  more  than  they  think  them  to 
need,  cannot  be  favorable  to  laws  made  for  the  protection  of 
property.  When  this  class  becomes  numerous,  it  grows 
clamorous.  It  looks  on  property  as  its  prey  and  plunder, 
and  is  naturally  ready,  at  all  times,  for  violence  and  revolu- 
tion. 

It  would  seem,  then,  to  be  the  part  of  political  wisdom,  to 
found  government  on  property  ;  and  to  establish  such  distri- 
bution of  property,  by  the  laws  which  regulate  its  transmiss- 
ion and  alienation,  as  to  interest  the  great  majority  of  socie- 
ty  in  the  support  of  the  government.  This  is,  I  imagine,  the 
true  theory  and  the  actual  practice  of  our  republican  institu- 
tions. With  property  divided,  as  we  have  it,  no  other  gov- 
ernment than  that  of  a  republic  could  be  maintained,  even 
were  we  foolish  enough  to  desire  it.  There  is  reason,  there- 
fore, to  expect  a  long  continuance  of  our  systems.  Party 
and  passion,  doubtless,  may  prevail  at  times,  and  much  tem- 
porary mischief  bo  done.  Even  modes  and  forms  may  be 
changed,  and  perhaps  for  the  worse.     But  a  great  revolution, 


Webster's    discourse.  2Si' 

in  regard  to  property  must  take  place,  before  our  govern- 
ments can  be  moved  from  their  republican  bases,  unless  they 
be  violently  struck  off  by  military  power.  The  people  pos- 
sess the  property,  more  emphatically  than  it  could  ever  be 
said  of  the  people  of  any  other  country,  and  they  can  have 
no  interest  to  overturn  a  government  which  protects  that 
property  by  equal  laws. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed,  that  this  state  of  things  possesses 
too  strong  tendencies  towards  the  production  of  a  dead  and  un- 
interesting level  in  society.    Such  tendencies  are  sufficiently 
counteracted  by  the  infinite  diversities  in  the  characters  and 
fortunes  of  individuals.     Talent,  activity,  industry,  and  en- 
terprise tend  at  all  times  to  produce  inequality  and  distinc-  • 
tion  ;  and  there  is  room  still  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth, 
with  its  great  advantages,  to  all  reasonable  and  useful  extent. 
It   has   been  often  urged  against   the  state   of  society  in 
America,  that  it   furnishes  no  class  of  men  of  fortune  and 
leisure.     This  may  be  partly  true,  but  it  is  not  entirely  so, 
and  the  evil,  if  it  be  one,,  would  aflect  rather  the  progress  of 
taste  and  literature,  than  the  general  prosperity  of  the  people. 
But  the  promotion  of  taste  and  literature  cannot  be  primary 
objects  of  political  institutions  ;   and  if  they  could,  it  might 
be  doubted,  whether,  in  the  long  course  of  things,  as  much 
is  not  gained  by  a  wide  diffusion  of  general  knowledge,  as  is 
lost  by  abridging  the  number  of  those  whom  fortune   and 
leisure  enable  to  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  scientific 
and  Uterary  pursits.     However  this  may  be,  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered that  it  is  the  spii'it  of  our  system  to  be  equal,  and  gen- 
eral, and  if  there  be  particular  disadvantages  incident  to 
this,  they  are  far  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  benefits 
which  weigh  against   them.     The  important   concerns  of 
society  are  generally  conducted,  in  all  countries,  by  the  men  of 
business  and  practical  ability  ;  and  even  in  matters  of  taste 
and  literature,  the  advantages  of  mere  leisure  are  liable  to 
be  overrated.     If  there  exist  adequate  means  of  education, 

and  the  love  of  letters  be  excited,  that  love  will  find  its  wav 
3  * 


30  Webster's   discourse. 

to  the  object  of  its  desire,  through  the  crowd  and  pressure  of 
the  most  busy  society. 

Connected  with  this  division  of  property,  and  the  conse- 
quent participation  of  the  great  mass  of  people  in  its  posses- 
sion and  enjoyments,  is  the  system  of  representation,  which 
is  admirably  accommodated  to  our  condition,  better  under- 
stood among  us,  and  more  familiarly  and  extensively  practis- 
ed, in  the  higher  and  in  the  lower  departments  of  government, 
than  it  has  been  with  any  other  people.  Great  facility  has 
been  given  to  this  in  New  England  by  the  early  division  of 
the  country  into  townships  or  small  districts,  in  which  all 
concerns  of  local  police  are  regulated,  and  in  which  repre- 
sentatives to  the  legislature  are  elected.  Nothing  can  exceed 
the  utility  of  these  little  bodies.  They  are  so  many  councils, 
or  parliaments,  in  which  connnon  interests  are  discussed,  and 
useful  knowledge  acquired  and  communicated. 

The  division  of  governments  into  departments,  and  the 
division,  again,  of  the  legislative  department  into  two  cham- 
bers, are  essential  provisions  in  our  systems.  This  last, 
although  not  new  in  itself,  yet  seems  to  be  new  in  its  appli- 
cation to  governments  wholly  popular.  The  Grecian  repub- 
lies,  it  is  plain,  knew  nothing  of  it  ;  and  in  Rome,  the  check 
and  balance  of  legislative  power,  such  as  it  was,  lay  between 
the  people  and  the  Senate.  Indeed  few  things  are  more 
difficult  than  to  ascertain  accurately  the  true  nature  and 
construction  of  the  Roman  commonwealth.  The  relative 
power  of  the  senate  and  the  people,  the  consuls  and  the 
tribunes,  appears  not  to  have  been  at  all  times  the  same,  nor 
at  any  time  accurately  defined  or  strictly  observed.  Cicero, 
indeed,  describes  to  us  an  admirable  arrangement  of  political 
power,  and  a  balance  of  the  constitution,  in  that  beautiful 
passage,  in  which  he  compares  the  democracies  of  Greece 
with  the  Roman  commonwealth.  "  O  murem  preclarum, 
disciplinamque,  quam  a  majoribus  accepimus,  si  quidem  tene- 
remus !  sed  nescio  quo  pacto  jam  de  manihus  elabitur.  Nullam 
enim  illi  nostri  sapientissimi  et  sanctissimi  viri  vim  concionis 


Webster's    discourse.  31 

esse  voluerunt,  quae  scisseret  plebs,  aut  quae  populus  juheret ; 
summota  condone,  distributis  pariibus,  tributim,  ei  centuriatim, 
descriptis  ordinibus,  classibus,  cetatibus,  auditis  auctoribus,  re 
multos  dies  promulgata  et  cognita,  juberi  vetarique  voluerunt. 
Graecorum  autem  totae  respublicae  sedentis  concionis  temeritate 
administrantur. " 

But  at  what  time  this  wise  system  existed  in  this  perfec- 
tion  at  Rome,  no  proofs  remain  to  show.  Her  constitution, 
originally  framed  for  a  monarchy,  never  seemed  to  be  adjust- 
ed, in  its  several  parts,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  kings. 
Liberty  there  was,  but  it  was  a  disputatious,  an  uncertain, 
an  ill-secured  liberty.  The  patrician  and  plebian  orders,  in- 
stead of  being  matched  and  joined,  each  in  its  just  place  and 
proportion,  to  sustain  the  fabric  of  the  state,  were  rather 
like  hostile  powers  in  perpetual  conflict.  With  us,  an  at- 
tempt has  been  made,  and  so  far  not  without  success,  to 
divide  representation  into  chambers,  and,  by  difference  of 
age,  character,  qualification  or  mode  of  election,  to  establish 
salutary  checks,  in  governments  altogether  elective. 

Having  detained  you  so  long  with  these  observations,  I 
must  yet  advert  to  another  most  interesting  topic,  the  Free 
Schools.  In  this  particular,  New  England  may  be  allowed 
to  claim,  I  think,  a  merit  of  a  peculiar  character.  She  early 
adopted  and  has  constantly  maintained  the  principle,  that  it 
is  the  undoubted  right,  and  the  bounden  duty  of  government, 
to  provide  for  the  instruction  of  all  youth.  That  which  is 
elsewhere  left  to  chance,  or  to  charity,  we  secure  by  law. 
For  the  purpose  of  public  instruction,  we  hold  every  man 
subject  to  taxation  in  proportion  to  his  property,  and  we 
look  not  to  the  question,  whether  he  himself  have,  or  have 
not,  children  to  be  benefitted  by  the  education  for  which  he 
pays.  We  regard  it  as  a  wise  and  liberal  system  of  police, 
by  which  property,  and  life,  and  the  peace  of  society  are  se- 
cured. We  seek  to  prevent,  in  some  measure,  the  extension  of 
the  penal  code,  by  inspiring  a  salutary  and  conservative  prin- 
ciple of  virtue  and  of  knowledge  in  an  early  age.     We  hope 


32  Webster's  discourse. 

to  excite  a  feeling  of  respectability,  and  a  sense  of  character, 
by  enlarging  the  capacity,  and  increasing  the  sphere  of  in- 
tellectual enjoyment.  By  general  instruction,  we  seek  as 
far  as  possible,  to  purify  the  whole  moral  atmosphere  ;  to 
keep  good  sentiments  uppermost,  and  to  turn  the  strong 
current  of  feehng  and  opinion,  as  well  as  the  censures  of 
the  law,  and  the  denunciations  of  religion,  against  immoral- 
ity and  crime.  We  hope  for  a  security,  beyond  the  law, 
and  above  the  law,  in  the  prevalence  of  enlightened  and 
well-principled  moral  sentiment.  We  hope  to  continue  and 
prolong  the  time,  when,  in  the  villages  and  farm  houses  of 
New  England,  there  may  be  undisturbed  sleep  within  un- 
barred doors.  And  knowing  that  our  government  rests  di- 
rectly on  the  public  will,  that  we  may  preserve  it,  we  en- 
deavor to  give  a  safe  and  proper  direction  to  that  public 
will.  We  do  not,  indeed,  expect  all  men  to  be  philosophers 
or  statesmen  ;  but  we  confidently  trust,  and  our  expecta- 
tion of  the  duration  of  our  system  of  government  rests  on 
that  trust,  that  by  the  diffusion  of  general  knowledge  and  good 
and  virtuous  sentiments,  the  political  fabric  may  be  secui'e, 
as  well  against  open  violence  and  overthrow,  as  against  the 
slow  but  sure  undermining  of  licentiousness. 

We  know,  that  at  the  present  time,  an  attempt  is  making 
in  the  English  Parliament  to  provide  by  law,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  poor,  and  that  a  gentleman  of  distinguished  char- 
acter, (Mr.  Brougham,)  has  taken  the  lead,  in  presenting  a 
plan  to  government  for  carrying  that  purpose  into  eftect. 
And  yet,  although  the  representatives  of  the  three  king- 
doms listened  to  him  with  astonishment  as  well  as  delieht, 
we  hear  no  principles,  with  which  we  ourselves  have  not  been 
familiar  from  youth  ;  we  see  nothing  in  the  plan,  but  an  ap- 
proach towards  that  system  which  has  been  established  in 
New  England  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half.  It  is 
said  that  in  England,  not  more  than  one  child  in  fifteen 
possesses  the  means  of  being  taught  to  read  and  write ;  in 
AVales,  one  in  twenty ;  in  France,  until  lately,  when  some  im- 


Webster's   discourse!.  33 

provement  was  made,  not  more  than  one  in  thirty-five.  Now, 
it  is  hardly  too  strong  to  say,  that  in  New  England,  every 
child  possesses  such  means.  It  would  he  ditficult  to  find  an 
instance  to  the  contrary,  unless  where  it  should  be  owing  to 
the  negligence  of  the  parent ;  and  in  truth  the  means  are 
actually  used  and  enjoyed  by  nearly  every  one. 

A  youth  of  fifteen,  of  either  sex,  who  cannot  both  read 
and  write,  is  very  unfrequently  to  be  found.  Who  can 
make  this  comparison,  or  contemplate  this  spectacle,  with- 
out delight  and  a  feeling  of  just  pride  ?  Does  any  history 
show  property  more  beneficently  applied  ?  Did  any  govern- 
ment ever  subject  the  property  of  those  who  have  estates, 
to  a  burden,  for  a  purpose  more  favorable  to  the  poor,  or 
more  useful  to  the  whole  community  ? 

A  conviction  of  the  importance  of  public  instruction  was 
one  of  the  earliest  sentiments  of  our  ancestors.  No  law- 
giver of  ancient  or  modern  times  has  expressed  more  just 
opinions,  or  adopted  wiser  measures,  than  the  early  records 
of  the  colony  of  Plymouth  show  to  have  prevailed  here. 
Assembled  on  this  very  spot,  a  hundred  and  fifty-three  years 
ago,  the  legislature  of  this  colony  declared,  "  For  as  much 
as  the  maintenance  of  good  literature  doth  much  tend  to  the 
advancement  of  the  weal  and  flourishing  state  of  societies  and 
republics,  this  court  doth  therefore  order,  that  in  whatever 
township  in  this  government,  consisting  of  fifty  families  or 
upwards,  any  meet  man  shall  be  obtained  to  teach  a  grammar 
school,  such  township  shall  allow  at  least  twelve  pounds,  to 
be  raised  by  rate,  on  all  the  inhabitants." 

Having  provided,  that  all  youth  should  be  instructed  in 
the  elements  of  learning  by  the  institution  of  free  schools, 
our  ancestors  had  yet  another  duty  to  perform.  Men  were 
to  be  educated  for  the  professions,  and  the  public.  For  this 
purpose  they  founded  the  University,  and  with  incredible 
zeal  and  perseverance  they  cherished  and  supported  it, 
through  all  trials  and  discouragements.  On  the  subject  of 
the  University,  it  is  not  possible  for  a  son  of  New  England 


34  webstek's   discourse. 

to  think  without  pleasure,  nor  to  speak  Mdthout  emotion. 
Nothing  confers  more  honor  on  the  state  where  it  is  estab- 
Ushed,  or  more  utility  on  the  country  at  large.  A  respecta- 
ble University  is  an  establishment,  which  must  be  the  work 
of  time.  If  pecuniary  means  were  not  wanting,  no  new  insti- 
tution could  possess  character  and  respectability  at  once. 
We  owe  deep  obligation  to  our  ancestors,  who  began,  almost 
on  the  moment  of  their  arrival,  the  work  of  building  up  this 
institution. 

Although  established  in  a  different  government,  the  colony 
of  Plymouth  manifested  warm  friendship  for  Harvard  Col- 
lege. At  an  early  period,  its  government  took  measures  to 
promote  a  general  subscription  throughout  all  the  towns  in 
this  colony,  in  aid  of  its  small  funds.  Other  colleges  were 
subsequently  founded  and  endowed,  in  other  places,  as  the 
ability  of  the  people  allowed  ;  and  we  may  flatter  ourselves, 
that  the  means  of  education,  at  present  enjoyed  in  New 
England,  are  not  only  adequate  to  the  diffusion  of  the 
elements  of  knowledge  among  all  classes,  but  sufficient 
also  for  respectable  attainments  in  literature  and  the  sci- 
ences. 

Lastly,  our  ancestors  have  founded  their  system  of  gov- 
ernment on  morality  and  religious  sentiment.  Moral  habits, 
they  believed,  cannot  safely  be  trusted  on  any  other  founda- 
tion than  religious  principle,  nor  any  government  be  secure 
which  is  not  supported  by  moral  habits.  Living  under  the 
heavenly  lighj;  of  revelation,  they  hoped  to  find  all  the  social 
dispositions,  all  the  duties  which  men  owe  to  each  other  and  to 
society,  enforced  and  performed.  Whatever  makes  men 
good  Christians,  makes  them  good  citizens.  Our  fathers 
came  here  to  enjoy  their  religion  free  and  unmolested  ;  and, 
at  the  end  of  two  centuries,  there  is  nothing  upon  which  we 
can  pronounce  more  confidently,  nothing  of  which  we  can  ex- 
press a  more  deep  and  earnest  conviction,  than  of  the  inesti- 
mable  importance  of  that  religion  to  man,  both  in  regard  to 
this  life,  and  that  which  is  to  come. 


WEBSTER^S     DISCOURSE.  '8S 

If  the  blessings  of  our  political  and  social  condition  imve 
not  been  too  highly  estimated,  we  cannot  well  overrate  the 
responsibility  and  duty  which  they  impose  upon  us.  We 
hold  these  institutions  of  government,  religion,  and  learning, 
to  be  transmitted  as  well  as  enjoyed.  We  are  in  the  line  of 
conveyance,  through  which  whatever  has  been  obtained  by 
the  spirit  and  efforts  of  our  ancestors,  is  to  be  communicated 
to  our  children. 

We  are  bound  to  maintain  public  liberty,  and  by  the  ex- 
ample of  our  own  systems,  to  convince  the  world,  that  order, 
and  law,  religion  and  morality,  the  rights  of  conscience,  the 
rights  of  persons,  and  the  rights  of  property,  may  all  be  pre- 
served and  secured,  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  by  a  govern- 
ment entirely  and  purely  elective.  If  we  fail  in  this,  our 
disaster  will  be  signal,  and  will  furnish  an  argument,  stronger 
than  has  yet  been  found,  in  support  of  those  opinions,  which 
maintain  that  government  can  rest  safely  on  nothing  but 
power  and  coercion.  As  far  as  experience  may  show  errors 
in  our  establishments,  we  are  bound  to  correct  them ;  and 
if  any  practices  exist,  contrary  to  the  principles  of  justice 
and  humanity,  within  the  reach  of  our  laws  or  our  influ- 
ence,  we  are  inexcusable  if  we  do  not  exert  ourselves  to  re- 
strain and  abolish  them. 

******* 

The  cause  of  science  and  literature  also  imposes  upon  us 
an  important  and  delicate  trust.  The  wealth  and  population 
of  the  country  are  now  so  far  advanced,  as  to  authorize  the 
expectation  of  a  correct  literature,  and  a  well  formed  taste, 
as  well  as  respectable  progress  in  the  abstruse  sciences. 
The  country  has  risen  from  a  state  of  colonial  dependency; 
it  has  established  an  independent  government,  and  is  now 
in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  peace  and  political  security. 
The  elements  of  knowledge  are  universally  diffused,  and  the 
reading  portion  of  the  community  large.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  present  may  be  an  auspicious  era  of  literature.  If,  al- 
.most  on  the  day  of  their  landing,  our  ancestors  foun"de<i 


36  Webster's   discourse. 

schools  and  endowed  colleges,  what  obligations  do  not  rest 
upon  us,  living  under  circumstances  so  much  more  favorable 
both  for  providing  and  for  using  the  means  of  education  ? 
Literature  becomes  free  institutions.  It  is  the  graceful  or- 
nament of  civil  liberty,  and  a  happy  restraint  on  the  asperi- 
ties, wliich  political  controversy  sometimes  occasions.  Just 
taste  is  not  only  an  embellishment  of  society,  but  it  rises  al- 
most to  the  rank  of  the  virtues,  and  diffuses  positive  good 
throughout  the  whole  extent  of  its  influence.  There  is  a 
connexion  between  right  feehng  and  right  principles,  and 
truth  in  taste  is  allied  with  truth  in  morality.  With  nothing 
in  our  past  history  to  discourage  us,  and  with  something  in 
our  present  condition  and  prospects  to  animate  us,  let  us 
hope,  that  as  it  is  our  fortune  to  live  in  an  age  when  we 
may  behold  a  wonderful  advancement  of  the  country  in  all  its 
other  great  interests,  we  may  see  also  equal  progress  and 
success  attend  the  cause  of  letters. 

Finally,  let  us  not  forget  the  religious  character  of  our 
origin.  Our  fathers  were  brought  hither  by  their  high  ve- 
neration for  the  Christian  religion.  They  journeyed  by  its 
light,  and  labored  in  its  hope.  They  sought  to  incorporate 
its  principles  with  the  elements  of  their  society,  and  to  dif- 
fuse its  influence  through  all  their  institutions,  civil,  politi- 
cal,  or  literary.  Let  us  cherish  these  sentiments,  and  extend 
this  influence  still  more  widely ;  in  the  full  conviction,  that 
that  is  the  happiest  society,  Avhich  partakes  in  the  highest 
degree  of  the  mild  and  peaceable  spirit  of  Christianity. 

The  hours  of  this  day  are  rapidly  flying,  and  this  occasion 
will  soon  be  passed.  Neither  we  nor  our  children  can  expect 
to  behold  its  return.  They  are  in  the  distant  regions  of 
futurity,  they  exist  only  in  the  all-creating  power  of  God, 
who  shall  stand  here,  a  hundred  years  hence,  to  trace,  through 
us,  their  descent  from  the  Pilgrims,  and  to  survey,  as  we  have 
now  surveyed,  the  progress  of  their  country,  during  the  lapse 
of  a  century.  We  would  anticipate  their  concurrence  with 
us  in  our  sentiments  of  deep  regard  for  our  common  anceSf 


Webster's   discourse.  37 

tors.  We  would  anticipate  and  partake  the  pleasure  with 
which  they  will  then  recount  the  steps  of  New  England's 
advancement.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  although  it  will 
not  disturb  us  in  our  repose,  the  voice  of  acclamation  and 
gratitude,  commencing  on  the  Rock  of  Plymouth,  shall  be 
transmitted  through  miUions  of  the  sons  of  the  Pilgrims,  till 
it  lose  itself  in  the  murmurs  of  the  Pacific  seas. 

We  would  leave  for  the  consideration  of  those  who  shall 
then  occupy  our  places,  some  proof  that  we  hold  the  blessings 
transmitted  from  our  fathers  in  just  estimation  ;  some  proof  of 
our  attachment  to  the  cause  of  good  government,  and  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty  ;  some  proof  of  a  sincere  and  ardent  de- 
sire to  promote  everything  which  may  enlarge  the  understand- 
ings and  improve  the  hearts  of  men.  And  when,  from  the  long 
distance  of  an  hundred  years,  they  shall  look  back  upon  us, 
they  shall  know,  at  least,  that  we  possessed  affections,  which, 
running  backward,  and  warming  with  gratitude  for  vvhat  our 
ancestors  have  done  for  our  happiness,  run  forward  also  to 
our  posterity,  and  meet  them  with  cordial  salutation,  ere  yet 
they  have  arrived  on  the  shore  of  being. 

Advance,  then,  ye  future  generations  !  We  would  hail 
you,  as  you  rise  in  your  long  succession,  to  fill  the  places 
which  we  now  fill,  and  to  taste  the  blessings  of  existence, 
where  we  are  passing,  and  soon  shall  have  passed,  our  own 
human  duration.  We  bid  you  welcome  to  this  pleasant  land 
of  the  fathers.  We  bid  you  welcome  to  the  healthful  skies 
and  the  verdant  fields  of  New  England.  We  greet  your 
accession  to  the  great  inheritance  which  we  have  enjoyed. 
We  welcome  you  to  the  blessings  of  good  government,  and 
religious  liberty.  We  welcome  you  to  the  treasures  of 
science,  and  the  delights  of  learning.  We  welcome  you  to 
the  transcendent  sweets  of  domestic  life,  to  the  happiness  of 
kindred,  and  parents,  and  children.  We  welcome  you  to 
the  immeasurable  blessings  of  rational  existence,  the  immor- 
tal hope  of  Christianity,  and  the  light  of  everlasting  truth  ! 

4 


ORATIOX 

OF  JOSEPH   WARREN, 

DELIVERED  AT   BOSTON,  MARCH  5,  1772,  THE  ANNIVERSA- 
RY OF  THE  "BOSTON  MASSACRE." 

— QjQjS— 

When  we  turn  over  the  historic  page,  and  trace  the  rise 
and  fall  of  states  and  empires,  the  mighty  revolutions  which 
have  so  often  varied  the  face  of  the  world  strike  our  minds 
with  solemn  surprise,  and  we  ai'e  naturally  led  to  endeavor 
to  search  out  the  causes  of  such  astonishing  changes. 

That  man  is  formed  for  social  life,  is  an  observation, 
which,  upon  our  first  inquiry,  presents  itself  immediately  to 
our  view,  and  our  reason  approves  that  wise  and  generous 
principle  Avhich  actuated  the  first  founders  of  civil  govern- 
ment— an  institution,  which  hath  its  origin  in  the  weakness 
of  individuals,  and  hath  for  its  end,  the  strength  and  security 
of  all :  and  so  long  as  the  means  of  effecting  this  important 
end  are  thoroughly  known,  and  religiously  attended  to,  go- 
vernment is  one  of  the  richest  blessings  to  mankind,  and 
ought  to  be  held  in  the  highest  veneration. 

In  young  and  new  formed  communities,  the  grand  design 
of  this  institution,  is  most  generally  understood,  and  most 
strictly  regarded.  The  motives  which  urged  to  the  social 
.compact,  cannot  be  at  once  forgotten,  and  that  equality 
which  is  remembered  to  have  subsisted  so  lately  among 
them,  prevents  those  Avho  are  clothed  with  authority,  from 
attempting  to  invade  the  freedom  of  their  brethren  ;  or  if 
such  an  attempt  is  made,  it  prevents  the  community  from 
sufiering  the  offender  to  go  unpunished.  Every  member 
feels  it  to  be  his  interest  and  knows  it  to  be  his  duty,  to  pre- 


AT    BOSTON.  3ff 

preserve  inviolate  the  constitution  on  which  the  pubUc  safety 
depends,  and  he  is  equally  ready  to  assist  the  magistrate  in 
the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  the  subject  in  defence  of  his 
right ;  and  so  long  as  this  noble  attachment  to  a  constitution 
founded  on  free  and  benevolent  principles,  exists  in  full 
vigor,  in  any  state,  that  state  mustbe  flourishing  and  happy. 

It  was  this  noble  attachment  to  a  free  constitution,  which 
raised  ancient  Rome,  from  the  smallest  beginnings,  to  that 
bright  summit  of  happiness  and  glory,  to  which  she  arrived  ; 
and  it  was  the  loss  of  this  which  plunged  her  from  that  sum- 
mit into  the  black  gulf  of  infamy  and  slavery.  It  was  this 
attachment  which  inspired  her  senators  with  wisdom  ;  it 
was  this  which  glowed  in  the  breasts  of  her  heroes  ;  it  was 
this  which  guarded  her  libarties  and  extended  her  domin- 
ions, gave  peace  at  home,  and  commanded  respect  abroad. 
And  when  this  decayed,  her  magistrates  lost  their  reverence 
for  justice  and  the  laws,  and  degenerated  into  tyrants  and 
oppressors ;  her  senators,  forgetful  of  their  dignity,  and  se- 
duced by  base  corruption,  betrayed  their  country  ;  her  sol- 
diers, regardless  of  their  relation  to  the  community,  and 
urged  only  by  the  hopes  of  plunder  and  rapine,  unfeelingly 
committed  the  most  flagrant  enormities ;  and,  hired  to  the 
trade  of  death,  with  relentless  fury  they  perpetrated  the 
most  cruel  murders,  whereby  the  streets  of  imperial  Rome 
were  drenched  with  her  noblest  blood.  Thus  this  empress 
of  the  world  lost  her  dominions  abroad,  and  her  inhabitants, 
dissolute  in  their  manners,  at  length  became  contented 
slaves  ;  and  she  stands  to  this  day,  the  scorn  and  derision  of 
nations,  and  a  monument  of  this  eternal  truth,  that  public 
happiness  depends  on  a  virtuous  and  unshaken  attachment 
to  a  free  constitution. 

It  was  this  attachment  to  a  constitution,  founded  on  free 
and  benevolent  principles,  which  inspired  the  first  settlers  of 
this  country.  They  saAV,  with  grief,  the  daring  outrages 
committed  on  the  free  constitution  of  their  native  land  ; 
they  knew,  that  nothing  but  a  civil  war  could,  at  that  time, 


40  warren's  oration, 

restore  its  pristine  purity.  So  hard  was  it  to  resolve  to 
imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  their  brethren,  that  they 
chose  rather  to  quit  their  fair  possessions  and  seek  another 
habitation  in  a  distant  cUme.  When  they  came  to  this  new 
world,  which  they  fairly  purchased  of  the  Indian  natives,  the 
only  rightful  proprietors,  they  cultivated  the  then  barren 
soil,  by  their  incessant  labor,  and  defended  their  dear-bought 
possessions  with  the  fortitude  of  the  christian,  and  the  bra- 
very of  the  hero. 

After  various  struggles,  which,  during  the  tj- rannic  reigns 
of  the  house  of  Stuart,  wereconstantlykept  up  between  right 
and  wrong,  between  liberty  and  slavery,  the  connexion  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  this  colony  was  settled  in  the  reign 
of  king  William  and  queen  Mary,  by  a  compact,  the  condi- 
tions of  which  were  expressed  in  a  charter ;  by  which  all 
the  liberties  and  immunities  of  British  subjects,  were  con- 
firmed to  this  province,  as  fully  and  as  absolutely  as  they 
possibly  could  be,  by  any  human  instrument,  which  can  be 
devised.  And  it  is  undeniably  true,  that  the  greatest  and 
most  important  right  of  a  British  subject  is,  that  he  shall  be 
governed  by  no  laws  but  those  to  which  he  either  in  person, 
or  by  his  representatives,  hath  given  his  consent :  and  this, 
I  will  venture  to  assert,  is  the  grand  basis  of  British  freedom  ; 
it  is  interwoven  with  the  constitution  ;  and  whenever  this  is 
lost,  the  constitution  must  be  destroyed. 

The  British  constitution,  (of  which  ours  is  a  copy,)  is  a 
happy  compound  of  the  three  forms,  (under  some  of  which 
all  governments  may  be  ranged,)  viz.,  monarchy,  aristocra- 
cy and  democracy.  Of  these  three  the  British  legislature  is 
composed,  and  without  the  consent  of  each  branch,  nothing 
can  carry  with  it  the  foi-ce  of  a  law.  But  when  a  law  is  to 
be  passed  for  raising  a  tax,  that  law  can  originate  only  in 
the  democratic  branch,  which  is  the  house  of  commons  in 
Britain,  and  the  house  of  representatives  here.  The  reason 
is  obvious  ;  they  and  their  constituents  are  to  pay  much  the 
largest  part  of  it;  but  as  the  aristocratic  branch,  which,  in 


AT    BOSTON.  41 

Britain,  is  the  house  of  lords,  and  in  this  province,  the  coun- 
cil, are  also  to  pay  some  part,  their  consent  is  necessary  ; 
and  as  the  monarchic  bi-anch,  which,  in  Britain,  is  the 
king,  and  with  us,  either  the  king  in  person,  or  the  governor 
whom  he  shall  be  pleased  to  appoint  to  act  in  his  stead,  is 
supposed  to  have  a  just  sense  of  his  own  interest,  which  is 
that  of  all  the  subjects  in  general,  his  consent  is  also  neces- 
sary, and  when  the  consent  of  these  three  branches  is  obtain- 
ed, the  taxation  is  most  certainly  legal. 

Let  us  now  allow  ourselves  a  few  moments  to  examine  the 
late  acts  of  the  British  parliament  for  taxing  America.  Let 
us  with  candor,  judge,  whether  they  are  constitutionally 
binding  upon  us  :  if  they  are,  in  the  name  of  justice  let  us 
submit  to  them,  without  one  murmuring  word. 

First,  I  would  ask,  whether  the  members  of  the  British 
House  of  Commons  are  the  democracy  of  this  province  ? 
If  they  are,  they  arc  either  the  people  of  this  province, 
or  are  elected  by  the  people  of  this  province,  to  represent 
them,  and  have,  therefore,  a  constitutional  right  to  ori- 
ginate a  bill  for  taxing  them  :  it  is  most  certain  they  are  nei- 
ther,  and,  therefore,  nothing  done  by  them  can  be  said  to  be 
done  by  the  democratic  branch  of  our  constitution.  I  would 
next  ask,  whether  the  lords,  who  compose  the  aristocratic 
branch  of  the  legislature,  are  peers  of  America  ?  I  never  heard 
it  was,  (even  in  those  extraordinary  times,)  so  much  as  pre- 
pretended ;  and  if  they  are  not,  certainly  no  act  of  theirs 
can  be  said  to  be  the  act  of  the  aristocratic  branch  of  our 
constitution.  The  power  of  the  monarchic  branch,  we,  with 
pleasure,  acknowledge  resides  in  the  king,  who  may  act 
either  in  person  or  by  his  representative  ;  and  I  freely  con- 
fess, that  I  can  see  no  reason  why  a  proclamation  for  raising 
taxes  in  America,  issued  by  the  king's  sole  authority,  would 
not  be  equally  consistent  with  our  own  constitution,  and, 
therefore,  equally  binding  upon  us,  with  the  late  acts  of  the 
British  parliament  for  taxing  us  ;  for  it  is  plain,  that  if  there 
is  any  validity  in  those  acts,  it  must  arise  altogether  from 
4* 


42  warren's    oration, 

the  monarchical  branch  of  the  legislature.  And  I  further 
think,  that  it  would  be  at  least  as  equitable ;  for  I  do  not 
conceive  it  to  be  of  the  least  importance  to  us  by  whom  our 
property  is  taken  away,  so  long  as  it  is  taken  without  our 
consent ;  and  I  am  very  much  at  a  loss  to  know,  by  what 
figure  of  rhetoric,  the  inhabitants  of  this  province  can  be 
called  free  subjects,  when  they  are  obliged  to  obey,  implicitly, 
such  laws  as  are  made  for  them  by  men  three  thousand  miles 
off,  whom  they  know  not,  and  whom  they  never  empowered  to 
act  for  them ;  or  how  they  can  be  said  to  have  pi'operty, 
when  a  body  of  men,  over  whom  they  have  not  the  least  con- 
trol, and  who  are  not  in  any  way  accountable  to  them,  shall 
oblige  them  to  deliver  up  any  part,  or  the  whole  of  their 
substance,  without  even  asking  their  consent.  And  yet, 
whoever  pretends,  that  the  late  acts  of  ths  British  parlia- 
ment, for  taxing  America,  ought  to  be  deemed  binding  upon 
us,  must  admit  at  once,  that  we  are  absolute  slaves,  and  have 
no  property  of  our  own ;  or  else,  that  we  may  be  freemen, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  under  a  necessity  of  obeying  the  arbi- 
trary commands  of  those  over  whom  we  have  no  control  or 
influence,  and  that  we  may  have  property  of  our  own,  which 
is  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  another.  Such  gross  absurdi- 
ties, I  believe,  will  not  be  relished  in  this  enlightened  age  : 
and  it  can  be  no  matter  of  wonder,  that  the  people  quickly 
perceived,  and  seriously  complained  of  the  inroads  which 
these  acts  must  unavoidably  make  upon  their  liberty,  and  of 
the  hazard  to  which  their  whole  property  is  by  them  exposed. 
For,  if  they  may  be  taxed  without  their  consent,  even  in  the 
smallest  trifle,  they  may  also,  without  their  consent,  be  de- 
prived  of  every  thing  they  possess,  although  never  so  valu- 
able, never  so  dear.  Certainly  it  never  entered  the  hearts 
of  our  ancestors,  that,  after  so  many  dangers  in  this  then 
desolate  wilderness,  their  hard-earned  property  should  be  at 
the  disposal  of  the  British  pai'liament.  And  as  it  was  soon 
found,  that  this  taxation  could  not  be  supported  by  reason 
and  argument,  it  seemed  necessary,  that  one  act  of  oppres- 


AT    BOSTOX.  43 

sion  should  be  enforced  by  another,  and,  therefore,  contrary 
to  our  just  rights  as  possessing,  or  at  least  having  a  just  title 
to  possess,  all  the  hbertiesand  immunities  of  British  subjects, 
a  standing  army  was  established  among  us  in  time  of  peace; 
and  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  eifecting  that,  which  it  was 
one  principal  design  of  the  founders  of  the  constitution  to 
prevent,  (when  they  declared  a  standing  army,  in  time  of 
peace,  to  be  against  law,)  namely  for  the  enforcement  of  obe- 
dience to  acts,  which  upon  fair  examination,  appeared  to 
be  unjust  and  unconstitutional. 

The  ruinous  consequences  of  standing  armies  to  free  com- 
munities,  may  be  seen  in  the  histories  of  Syracuse,  Rome,  and 
many  other  once  flourishing  states ;  some  of  which  have  now 
scarce  a  name !  Their  baneful  influence  is  most  suddenly 
felt,  when  they  are  placed  in  populous  cities  ;  for,  by  a  cor- 
ruption of  morals,  the  public  happiness  is  immediately  af- 
fected ;  and  that  this  is  one  of  the  effects  of  quartering 
troops  in  a  populous  city,  is  a  truth  to  which  many  a  mourn- 
ing parent,  many  a  lost,  despairing  child  in  this  metropolis, 
must  bear  a  very  melancholy  testimony.  Soldiers  are  also 
taught  to  consider  arms  as  the  only  arbiters  by  which  every 
dispute  is  to  be  decided  between  contending  states  ;  they  are 
instructed  implicitly  to  obey  their  commanders,  without  in- 
quiring into  the  justice  of  the  cause  they  are  engaged  to 
support ;  hence  it  is,  that  they  are  ever  to  be  dreaded  as 
the  ready  engines  of  tyranny  and  oppression.  And  it  is 
too  observable,  that  they  are  prone  to  introduce  the  same 
mode  of  decision  in  the  disputes  of  individuals ;  and  from 
thence  have  often  arisen  great  animosities  between  them 
and  the  inhabitants,  who,  whilst  in  a  naked,  defenceless  state, 
are  frequently  insulted  and  abused  by  an  armed  soldiery. 
And  this  will  be  more  especially  the  case,  when  the  troops 
are  informed  that  the  intention  of  their  being  stationed  in 
any  city,  is  to  overawe  the  inhabitants.  That  this  was  the 
avowed  design  of  stationing  an  armed  force  in  this  town,  is 
sufficiently  known ;  and  we,  my  fellow-citizens,  have  seen, 


44  warken's  oration, 

we  have  felt  the  tragical  effects  ! — the  fatal  fifth  of  March. 
1770,  can  never  be  forgotten.  The  horrors  of  that  dreadful 
night,  are  but  too  deeply  impressed  on  our  hearts.  Lan- 
guage is  too  feeble  to  paint  the  emotion  of  our  souls,  when 
our  streets  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  our  brethren ; 
when  our  ears  were  wounded  by  the  groans  of  the  dying, 
and  our  eyes  were  tormented  with  the  sight  of  the  mangled 
bodies  of  the  dead  ;  when  our  alarmed  imagination  present- 
ed to  our  views  our  houses  wrapped  in  flames,  our  children 
subjected  to  the  barbarous  caprice  of  the  raging  soldiery,  our 
beauteous  virgins  exposed  to  all  the  insolence  of  unbridled 
passion,  our  virtuous  wives,  endeared  to  us  by  every  tender 
tie,  falling  a  sacrifice  to  worse  than  brutal  violence,  and 
perhaps,  like  the  famed  Lucretia,  distracted  with  anguish 
and  despair,  ending  their  wretched  fives  by  their  own  fair 
hands.  When  we  beheld  the  authors  of  our  distress  parading 
in  our  streets,  or  drawn  up  in  a  regular  battalia,  as  though  in 
a  hostile  city,  our  hearts  beat  to  arms ;  we  snatched  our 
weapons,  almost  resolved  by  one  decisive  stroke,  to  avenge 
the  death  of  our  slaughtered  brethren,  and  to  secure  from 
future  danger,  all  that  we  held  most  dear.  But  propitious 
heaven  forbade  the  bloody  carnage,  and  saved  the  threaten- 
ed victims  of  our  too  keen  resentment — not  by  their  disci- 
pline, not  by  their  regular  array  ;  no,  it  was  royal  George's 
livery  that  proved  their  shield — it  was  that  which  turned  the 
pointed  engines  of  destruction  from  their  breasts.  The 
thoughts  of  vengeance  were  soon  buried  in  our  inbred  affec- 
tion to  Great  Britain,  and  calm  reason  dictated  a  method  of 
removing  the  troops  more  mild  than  an  immediate  recourse 
to  the  sword.  With  united  efforts  you  urged  the  immedi- 
ate departure  of  the  ti-oops  from  the  town ;  you  urged  it, 
with  a  resolution  which  ensured  success  ;  you  obtained  your 
wishes,  and  the  removal  of  the  troops  was  efiected,  without 
one  drop  of  their  blood  being  shed  by  the  inhabitants. 

The  immediate  actors  in  the  tragedy  of  that  night,  were 
surrendered  to  justice.     It  is  not  mine  to  say  how  far  they 


AT    BOSTON.  45 

were  guilty.  They  have  been  tried  by  the  country  and  ac- 
quilled  of  murder!  and  they  are  not  to  be  again  arraigned 
at  an  earthly  bar.  But  surely  the  men  who  have  promiscu- 
ously  scattered  death  amidst  the  innocent  inhabitants  of  a 
populous  city,  ought  to  see  well  to  it,  that  they  be  prepared 
to  stand  at  the  bar  of  an  omniscient  judge  !  and  all  who  con- 
trived  or  encouraged  the  stationing  troops  in  this  place,  have 
reasons  of  eternal  importance,  to  reflect  with  deep  contri- 
tion, on  their  base  designs,  and  humbly  repent  of  their  impi- 
ous  machinations. 

The  infatuation  which  hath  seemed,  for  a  number  of  years, 
to  prevail  in  the  British  councils,  with  regard  to  us,  is  truly 
astonishing  !     What   can  be  proposed   by  the  repeated  at- 
tacks made  upon  our  freedom,  I  really  cannot  surmise  :  even 
leaving  justice   and  humanity  out   of  question.     I  do  not 
know  of  one  single  advantage,  which  can  arise  to  the  British 
nation  from  our  being  enslaved.     I  know  not  of  any  gains, 
which  can  be  wrung  from  us  by  oppression,  which  they  may 
not  obtain  from  us  by  our  own  consent,  in  the  smooth  chan- 
nel of  commerce.     We  wish  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of 
Britain  ;  we  contribute  largely  to  both.     Doth  what  we  con- 
tribute   lose  all  its   value,  because  it  is  done  voluntarily  ? 
The  amazing  increase  of  riches  to  Britain,  the  great  rise  of 
the  value  of  her  lands,  the  flourishing  state  of  her  navy,  are 
striking  proofs  of  the  advantages  derived  to  her  from  her 
commerce  with  the  colonies  ;  and  it  is  our  earnest  desire  that 
she  may  still  continue  to  enjoy  the  same  emoluments,  until 
her  streets  are  paved  with  American  gold  ;  only,  let  us  have 
the  pleasure  of  calling  it  our  own,  whilst  it  is  in  our  own 
hands.     But  this,  it  seems,  is  too  great  a  favor  ;  we  are  to 
be  governed  by  the  absolute  command  of  others  ;  our  pro- 
perty  is  to  be  taken  away  without  our  consent ;  if  we  com- 
plain, our  complaints  are   treated   with  contempt ;    if  we 
assert  our  rights,  that  assertion  is  deemed  insolence  ;  if  we 
humbly  oflfer  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  impartial  decision 
of  reason,  the  sword  is  judged  the  most  proper  argiuncnt  to 


46  warken's  oration, 

silence  our  murmurs  !  But  this  cannot  Ions  be  the  case  : 
surely  the  British  nation  will  not  suffer  the  reputation  of 
their  justice  and  their  honor,  to  be  thus  sported  away  by  a 
capricious  ministry.  No,  they  will  in  a  short  time  open 
their  eyes  to  their  true  interest ;  they  nourish  in  their  own 
breasts,  a  noble  love  of  liberty  ;  they  hold  her  dear,  and  they 
know  that  all,  who  have  once  possessed  her  charms,  had 
rather  die  than  suffer  her  to  be  torn  from  their  embraces. 
They  are  also  sensible  that  Britain  is  so  deeply  interested  in 
the  prosperity  of  the  colonies,  that  she  must  eventually  feel 
every  wound  given  to  their  freedom  ;  they  cannot  be  igno- 
rant that  more  dependence  may  be  placed  on  the  affections 
of  a  brother,  than  on  the  forced  service  of  a  slave  :  they  must 
approve  your  efforts  for  the  preservation  of  your  rights  ; 
from  a  sympathy  of  soul  they  must  pray  for  your  success  ; 
and  I  doubt  not  but  they  will,  ere  long,  exert  themselves 
effectually,  to  redress  your  grievances.  Even  in  the  disso- 
lute  reign  of  king  Charles  II.  when  the  house  of  commons 
impeached  the  earl  of  Clarendon,  of  high  treason,  the  first 
article  on  which  they  founded  their  accusation  was,  that  "  he 
had  designed  a  standing  army  to  be  raised,  and  to  govern 
the  kingdom  thereby."  And  the  eighth  article  was,  that 
"he  had  introduced  an  arbitrary  government  into  his  ma- 
jesty's plantation."  A  terrifying  example  to  those  who 
are  now  forging  chains  for  this  country. 

You  have,  my  friends  and  countrymen,  frustrated  the  de- 
signs  of  your  enemies,  by  your  unanimity  and  fortitude  :  it 
Avas  your  union  and  determined  spirit  which  expelled  those 
troops,  who  polluted  your  streets  with  innocent  blood.  You 
have  appointed  this  anniversary  as  a  standard  memorial  of 
the  bloody  conscqtiences  of  placing  an  armed  force  in  a  popu- 
lous city,  and  of  your  deliverance  from  the  dangers  which 
then  seemed  to  hang  over  your  heads ;  and  I  am  confident 
that  you  will  never  betray  the  least  want  of  spirit  when  call- 
ed upon  to  guard  your  freedom.  None  but  they,  who  set 
a  just  value  upon  the  blessings  of  liberty,  are  worthy  to  en* 


AT    BOSTON.  47 

joy  her — your  illustrious  fathers  were  her  zealous  votaries 
— when  the  blasting  frowns  of  tyranny  drove  her  from  pub- 
lic view,  they  clasped  her  in  their  arms  ;  they  cherished  her 
in  their  generous  bosoms ;  they  brought  her  safe  over  the 
rough  ocean,  and  fixed  her  seat  in  this  then  dreary  wilder- 
ness ;  they  nursed  her  infant  age  with  the  most  tender  care  ; 
for  her  sake,  they  patiently  bore  the  severest  hardships  ;  for 
her  support,  they  underwent  the  most  rugged  toils ;  in 
her  defence,  they  boldly  encountered  the  most  alarming  dan- 
gers  ;  neither  the  ravenous  beasts  that  ranged  the  woods  for 
prey,  nor  the  more  furious  savages  of  the  wilderness,  could 
damp  their  ardor  !  Whilst  with  one  hand  they  broke  the 
stubborn  glebe,  with  the  other  they  grasped  their  weapons, 
ever  ready  to  protect  her  from  danger.  No  sacrifice,  not 
even  their  own  blood,  was  esteemed  too  rich  a  libation  for 
her  altar  !  God  prospered  their  valor  ;  they  preserved  her 
brilliancy  unsullied  ;  they  enjoyed  her  whilst  they  lived,  and 
dying,  bequeathed  the  dear  inheritance  to  your  care.  And 
as  they  left  you  this  glorious  legacy,  they  have  undoubtedly 
transmitted  to  you  some  portion  of  their  noble  spirit,  to  in- 
spire you  with  virtue  to  merit  her,  and  courage  to  preserve 
her.  You  surely  cannot  with  such  examples  before  your 
eyes,  as  every  page  of  the  history  of  this  country  affords, 
suffer  your  Uberties  to  be  ravished  from  you  by  lawless  force, 
or  cajoled  away  by  flattery  and  fraud. 

The  voice  of  your  father's  blood  cries  to  you  from  the 
ground,  my  sons  scorn  to  be  slaves!  In  vain  we  met  the 
frowns  of  tyrants — in  vain  we  crossed  the  boisterous  ocean, 
found  a  new  world,  and  prepared  it  for  the  happy  residence 
of  liberty — in  vain  we  toiled — in  vain  we  fought — we  bled  in 
vain,  if  you  our  offspring,  want  valor  to  impel  the  assaults 
of  her  invaders  !  Stain  not  the  glory  of  your  worthy  ances- 
tors, but  like  them,  resolve  never  to  part  with  your  birth- 
right ;  be  wise  in  your  deUberations,  and  detennined  in 
your  exertions  for  the  preservation  of  your  liberties.  Fol- 
low  not  the  dictates  of  passion,  but  enlist  yourselves  under 


48  warren's  oration. 

the  sacred  banner  of  reason;  use  every  method  in  your 
power  to  secure  your  rights  ;  at  least  prevent  the  curses  of 
posterity  from  being  heaped  upon  your  memories. 

If  you,  with  united  zeal  and  fortitude,  oppose  the  torrent 
of  oppression  ;  if  you  feel  the  true  fire  of  patriotism  burning 
in  your  breasts  :  if  you,  from  your  souls,  despise  the  most 
gaudy  dress  that  slavery  can  wear  ;  if  you  really  prefer  the 
lonely  cottage,  (whilst  blest  with  liberty,)  to  gilded  palaces, 
surrounded  with  the  ensigns  of  slavery,  you  may  have  the 
fullest  assurance  that  tyranny,  with  her  whole  accursed  train, 
will  hide  their  hideous  heads  in  confusion,  shame  and  des- 
pair.  If  you  perform  your  part,  you  must  have  the  strong- 
est confidence,  that  the  same  Almighty  Being  who  protected 
your  pious  and  venerable  forefathers,  who  enabled  them  to 
turn  a  barren  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field,  who  so  often 
made  bare  his  arm  for  their  salvation,  will  still  be  mindful  of 
you  their  oflTspring. 

May  this  Almighty  Being,  graciously  preside  in  all  our 
councils.  May  he  direct  us  to  such  measures  as  he  himself 
shall  approve,  and  be  pleased  to  bless.  May  we  ever  be  a 
people  favored  of  God.  May  our  land  be  a  land  of  liberty, 
the  seat  of  virtue,  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed,  a  name  and 
a  praise  in  the  whole  earth,  until  the  last  shock  of  time  shall 
bury  the  empires  of  the  world  in  one  common  undistin- 
guished ruin ! 


EXTRACT  FROM  AN  ORATION, 

DELIVERED  AT  BOSTON,  MARCH  5,  1774,  THE  ANNIVERSA- 
RY OF  THE  "BOSTON  MASSACRE." 

BY  JOHN  HANCOCK. 


Patriotism  is  ever  united  with  humanity  and  compas- 
sion. This  noble  affection,  which  impels  us  to  sacrifice 
every  thing  dear,  even  life  itself,  to  our  country,  involves  in 
it  a  common  sympathy  and  tenderness  for  every  citizen,  and 
must  ever  have  a  particular  feeling  for  one  who  suffers  in  a 
public  cause.  Thoroughly  persuaded  of  this,  I  need  not  add 
a  word  to  engage  your  compassion  and  bounty  towards  a 
fellow-citizen,  who,  with  long  protracted  anguish,  falls  a  vic- 
tim to  the  relentless  rage  of  our  common  enemies. 

Ye  dark  designing  knaves,  ye  murderers,  parricides !  how 
dare  you  tread  upon  the  earth,  which  has  drank  in  the  blood 
of  slaughtered  innocents,  shed  by  your  wicked  hands'? 
How  dare  you  breathe  that  air  which  wafted  to  the  ear  of 
heaven  the  groans  of  those  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  your  accurs- 
ed ambition?  But  if  the  laboring  earth  doth  not  expand  her 
jaws  ;  if  the  air  you  breathe  is  not  commissioned  to  be  the  mi- 
nister of  death  ;  yet,  hear  it  and  tremble  !  The  eye  of  heaven 
penetrates  the  darkest  chambers  of  the  soul,  traces  the  lead- 
ing clue  through  all  the  labyrinths  which  your  industrious 
folly  has  devised  ;  and  you,  however  you  may  have  screened 
yourselves  from  human  eyes,  must  be  arraigned,  must  lift 
your  hands,  red  with  the  blood  of  those  whose  death  you 
have  procured,  at  the  tremendous  bar  of  God  ! 

But  I  gladly  quit  the  gloomy  theme  of  death,  and  leave 

you  to  improve  the  thought  of  that  important  day,  when  our 

5 


50  HANCOCK  S    ORATION, 

naked  souls  must  stand  before  that  being,  from  whom  noth- 
ing can  be  hid.     I  would  not  dwell  too  long  upon  the  horrid 
effects  which  have  already  followed  from  quartering  regular 
troops  in  this  town.     Let  our  misfortunes  teach  posterity  to 
guard  against  such  evils  for  the  future.     Standing  armies 
are  sometimes,  (I  would  by  no  means  say  generally,  much 
less  universally,)  composed  of  persons  who  have  rendered 
themselves  unfit  to  live  in  civil  society  ;  who  have  no  other 
motives  of  conduct  than  those  which  a  desire  of  the  present 
gratification  of  their  passions  suggests  ;  who  have  no  pro- 
perty in  any  country ;  men  who  have  given  up   their  own 
liberties,  and  envy  those  who  enjoy  liberty  ;  who  are  equally 
indifferent  to  the  glory  of  a  George  or  a  Louis  ;  who,  for  the 
addition  of  one  penny  a  day   to  their  wages,  would   desert 
from  the  christian  cross,  and  fight  under  the  crescent  of  the 
Turkish  sultan.     From  such  men  as  these,  what  has  not  a 
state  to  fear  ?     With  such  as  these,  usurping  Caesar  passed 
the  Rubicon  ;  with  such  as  these,  he  humbled  mighty  Rome, 
and  forced  the  mistress  of  the  world  to  own  a  master  in  a 
traitor.     These  are  the  men  whom  sceptered  robbers  now 
employ  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  God,  and  render  vain  the 
bounties  which  his   gracious  hand  pours   indiscriminately 
upon  his  creatures.     By  these,  the  miserable  slaves  in  Tur- 
key,  Persia,  and  many  other  extensive  countries,  are  ren- 
dcred  truly  wretched,  though  their  air  is  salubrious,  and  their 
soil  luxuriously  fertile.    By  these,  France  and  Spain,  though 
blessed  by  nature  with  all   that  administers  to   the  conven- 
icnce  of  life,  have  been  reduced  to  that  contemptible  state  in 
which  they  now  appear  ;  and  by  these,  Britain- 


-but  if  I  was  possessed  of  the  gift  of  prophecy,  I  dare 
not,  except  by  divine  command,  unfold  the  leaves  on  which 
the  destiny  of  that  once  powerful  kingdom  is  inscribed. 

But  since  standing  armies  are  so  hurtful  to  a  state,  per- 
haps  my  countrymen  may  demand  some  substitute,  some 
other  means  of  rendering  us  secure  against  the  incursions  of 
a  foreign  enemy-     But  can  you  be  one  moment  at  a  loss  ? 


AT    BOSTON.  51 

Will  not  a  well  disciplined  militia  afford  you  ample  security 
against  foreign  foes  ?    We  want  not  courage  ;  it  is  discipline 
alone  in  which   we  are  exceeded  by   the  most  formidable 
troops  that  ever  trod  the  earth.     Surely  our  hearts  flutter 
no  more  at  the  sound  of  war,  than  did  those  of  the  immortal 
band  of  Persia,  the  Macedonian  phalanx,  the  invincible  Ro- 
man legions,  the  Turkish  janissaries,  the  gens  d'armes  of 
France,  or  the  well  known  grenadiers  of  Britain.     A  well 
disciplined  militia  is  a  safe  and  honorable  guard  to  a  com- 
munity like  this,  whose  inhabitants  are  by  nature  brave,  and 
are  laudably  tenacious  of  that  freedom  in  which  they   were 
born.     From  a  well  regulated  militia,   we  have  nothing  to 
fear  ;  their  interest  is  the  same  with  that  of  the  state.    When 
a  country  is  invaded,  the  militia  are  ready  to  appear  in  its 
defence ;  they  march  into  the  field  with  that  fortitude  which 
a  consciousness  of  the  justice  of  their  cause  inspires  ;  they 
do  not  jeopard  their  lives  for  a  master  who  considers  them 
only  as  the  instruments  of  his  ambition,  and  whom  they  re- 
gard only  as  the  daily  dispensers  of  the  scanty  pittance  of 
bread  and  water.     No,  they  fight  for  their  houses,  their 
lands,    for  their  wives,  their   children  ;  for  all  who    claim 
the     tenderest    names,     and    are    held    dearest    in    their 
hearts ;  they  fight  p'''^  aris  et  focis,  for  their  liberty,  and 
for  themselves,  and  for  their  God.     And  let  it  not  offend,  if 
I  say,  that  no  militia  ever  appeared  in  more  flourishing  con- 
dition, than  that  of  this  province  now  doth  ;  and  pardon  me 
if  I  say,  of  this  town  in  particular.     I  mean  not  to  boast ; 
I  would  not  excite  envy  but  manly  emulation.     We  have  all 
one  common  cause  ;   let   it,  therefore,  be   our  only  contest 
who  shall  most  contribute  to  the  security  of  the  liberties  of 
America.     And  may  the  same  kind  Providence  which  has 
watched  over  this  country  from  her  infant  state,  still  enable 
us  to  defeat  our  enemies.     I  cannot  here  forbear  noticing 
the  signal  manner  in  which  the  designs  of  those,  who  wish 
not  well  to  us,  have  been  discovered.     The  dark  deeds  of  a 
treacherous  cabal,  have  been  brought  to  public  view.     You 


52  Hancock's  okatioit, 

now  know  the  serpents  who,  whilst  cherished  in  your  bo- 
soms, were  darting  their  envenomed  stings  into  the  vitals  of 
the  constitution.  But  the  representatives  of  the  people 
have  fixed  a  mark  on  these  vmgrateful  monsters,  which, 
though  it  may  not  make  them  so  secure  as  Cain  of  old,  yet 
renders  them  at  least  as  infamous.  Indeed,  it  would  be 
affrontive  to  the  tutelar  deity  of  this  country,  even  to  des- 
pair of  saving  it  from  all  the  snares  which  human  policy 
can  lay. 

True  it  is,  that  the  British  ministry  have  annexed  a 
salary  to  the  office  of  the  governor  of  this  province,  to  be 
paid  out  of  a  revenue,  raised  in  America,  without  our  con- 
sent. They  have  attempted  to  render  our  courts  of  justice 
the  instruments  of  extending  the  authority  of  acts  of  the 
British  parhament  over  this  colony,  by  making  the  judges 
dependent  on  the  British  administration  for  their  support. 
But  this  people  will  never  be  enslaved  with  their  eyes  open. 
The  moment  they  knew  that  the  governor  was  not  such  a 
governor  as  the  charter  of  the  province  points  out,  he  lost 
his  power  of  hurting  them.  They  were  alarmed ;  they  sus- 
pected him,  have  guarded  against  him,  and  he  has  found 
that  a  wise  and  a  brave  people,  when  they  know  their  dan- 
ger, are  fruitful  in  expedients  to  escape  it. 

The  courts  of  judicature,  also,  so  far  lost  their  dignity,  by 
being  supposed  to  be  under  an  undue  influence,  that  our  re- 
presentatives thought  it  absolutely  necessary  to  resolve  that 
they  were  bound  to  declare,  that  they  would  not  receive 
any  other  salary  besides  that  which  the  general  court  should 
grant  them  ;  and  if  they  did  not  make  this  declaration,  that 
it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  house  to  impeach  them. 

Great  expectations  were  also  formed  from  the  artful 
scheme  of  allowing  the  East  India  Company  to  export  tea  to 
America,  upon  their  own  account.  This  certainly,  had  it 
succeeded,  would  have  effected  the  purpose  of  the  contri- 
vers, and  gratified  the- most  sanguine  wishes  of  our  adver- 
saries.    We  soon  should  have  found  our  trade  in  the  hands 


AT    BOSTON.  53 

of  foreigners,  and  taxes  imposed  on  every  thing  which  we 
consumed ;  nor   would  it  have  been  strange,  if,   in  a  few 
years,  a  company  in  London  should  have  purchased  an  ex- 
elusive  right  of  trading  to  America.     But   their   plot  was 
soon  discovered.     The  people  soon  were  aware  of  the  poison 
which,  with  so  much  craft  and  subtilty,  had  been  concealed. 
Loss  and  disgrace  ensued  :  and,  perhaps  this  long  concerted 
master-piece  of  policy,  may  i-sue  in  the  total  disuse  of  tea 
in  this  country,  which  will  eventually  be  the  saving  of  the 
lives  and  the  estates  of  thousands.     Yet  while  we  rejoice  that 
the  adversary  has  not  hitherto  prevailed  against  us,  let  us  by- 
no  means  put  off  the  harness.     Restless  malice,  and  disap- 
pointed  ambition,  will  still  suggest  new  measures  to  our  in- 
veterate enemies.     Therefore,  let  us  also  be  ready  to  take 
the  field   whenever   danger    calls  ;    let  us    be   united    and 
strengthen  the  hands  of  each  other  by  promoting  a  general 
union  among  us.     Much  has  been  done  by   the   committees 
of  correspondence  for  this  and  the  other  towns  of  this  pro- 
vince, towards  uniting  the  inhabitants ;  let  them  still  go  on 
and  prosper.     Much  has  been  done  by   the   committees   of 
correspondence,  for  the  houses  of  assembly,  in  this  and  our 
sister  colonies,  for  uniting  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  con- 
tinent, for  the  security  of  their  common  interest.      May 
success  ever  attend  their  generous  endeavors.     But  permit 
me  here  to  suggest  a  general  congress  of  deputies,  from  the 
several  houses  of  assembly,  on  the  continent,  as  the  most 
effectual  method  of  establishing  such  an  union,  as  the  present 
posture  of  our  affairs  require.     At  such  a  congress,  a  firm 
foundation  may  be  laid  for  the  security  of  our  rights  and  lib- 
erties ;  a  system  may  be  formed  for  our  common  safety,  by 
a  strict  adherence  to  which,  we  shall  be  able  to  frustrate  any 
attempts  to  overthrow  our  constitution  ;  restore  peace  and 
harmony  to  America,  and  secure  honor  and  wealth  to  Great 
Britain,  even  against  the  inclinations  of  her  ministers,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  study  her  welfare  ;  and  we  shall  also  free  our- 
selves from  those  unmannerly  pillagers  who  impudently  tell 

5  * 


54  Hancock's  oratiox, 

us,  that  they  are  licensed  by  an  act  of  the  British  parUament 
to  thrust  their  dirty  hands  into  the  pockets  of  every  Ameri- 
can. But,  I  trust,  the  happy  time  will  come,  when,  with 
the  besom  of  destruction,  those  noxious  vermin  will  be  swept 
forever  from  the  streets  of  Boston. 

Surely  you  never  will  tamely  suffer  this  country  to  be  a 
den  of  thieves.  Remember,  my  friends,  from  whom  j'ou 
sprang.  Let  not  a  meanness  of  spirit,  unknown  to  those 
whom  you  boast  of  as  your  fathers,  excite  a  thought  to  the 
dishonor  of  your  mothers.  I  conjure  you,  by  all  that  is  dear, 
by  all  that  is  honorable,  by  all  that  is  sacred,  not  only  that 
ye  pray,  but  that  ye  act ;  that,  if  necessary,  ye  fight,  and 
even  die,  for  the  prosperity  of  our  Jerusalem.  Break  in 
sunder,  with  noble  disdain,  the  bonds  with  which  the  Phi- 
listines have  bound  you.  Suffer  not  yourselves  to  be  be- 
trayed, by  the  soft  arts  of  luxury  and  effeminacy,  into  the 
pit  digged  for  your  destruction.  Despise  the  glare  of  wealth. 
That  people,  who  pay  a  greater  respect  to  a  wealthy  villain, 
than  to  an  honest,  upright  man  in  poverty,  ahnost  deserve 
to  be  enslaved ;  they  plainly  show,  that  wealth,  however  it 
may  be  acquired,  is,  in  their  esteem,  to  be  preferred  to 
virtue. 

But  I  thank  God,  that  America  abounds  in  men  who  are 
superior  to  all  temptation,  whom  nothing  can  divert  from  a 
steady  pursuit  of  the  interest  of  their  country  ;  who  are  at 
once  its  ornament  and  safeguard.  And  sure  I  am,  I  should 
not  incur  your  displeasure,  if  I  paid  a  respect,  so  justly  due 
to  their  much  honored  characters,  in  this  place.  But  when 
I  name  an  Adams,  such  a  numerous  host  of  fellow-patriots 
rush  upon  my  mind,  that  I  fear  it  would  take  up  too  much  of 
your  time,  should  I  attempt  to  call  over  the  illustrious  roll. 
But  your  grateful  hearts  will  point  you  to  the  men  ;  and  their 
revered  names,  in  all  succeeding  times,  shall  grace  the  an- 
nals of  America.  From  them,  let  us,  my  friends,  take  ex- 
ample  ;  from  them,  let  us  catch  the  divine  enthusiasm  ;  and 
feel,  each  for  himself,  the  godlike  pleasure  of  diffusing  hap- 


AT    BOSTON.  55 

piness  on  all  around  us ;  of  delivering  the  oppressed  from 
the  iron  grasp  of  tyranny ;  of  changing  the  hoarse  com- 
plaints  and  bitter  moans  of  wretched  slaves  into  those 
cheerful  songs,  which  freedom  and  contentment  must  inspire. 
There  is  a  heartfelt  satisfaction  in  reflecting  on  our  exer- 
tions for  the  public  weal,  which  all  the  sufferings  an  enraged 
tyrant  can  inflict,  will  never  take  away  ;  which  the  in- 
gratitude and  reproaches  of  those  whom  we  have  saved  from 
ruin,  cannot  rob  us  of.  The  virtuous  asserter  of  the  rishts 
of  mankind  merits  a  reward,  which  even  a  want  of  success 
in  his  endeavors  to  save  his  country,  the  heaviest  misfor- 
tune which  can  befall  a  genuine  patriot,  cannot  entirely  pre- 
vent him  from  receiving. 

I  have  the  most  animating  confidence,  that  the  present 
noble  struggle  for  liberty  ;  will  terminate  gloriously  for  A- 
merica.  And  let  us  play  the  man  for  our  God,  and  for  the 
cities  of  our  God  ;  while  we  are  using  the  means  in  our  pow- 
er, let  us  humbly  commit  our  righteous  cause  to  the  great 
Lord  of  the  universe,  who  loveth  righteousness  and  hateth 
iniquity.  And  having  secured  the  approbation  of  our  hearts, 
by  a  faithful  and  unwearied  discharge  of  our  duty  to  our 
country,  let  us  joyfully  leave  our  concerns  in  the  hands  of 
Him  who  raiseth  up  and  putteth  down  the  empires  and  king, 
doms  of  the  world  as  He  pleases  ;  and  with  cheerful  submis- 
sion to  His  sovereign  will,  devoutly  say,  "  Although  the  fig- 
tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vines;  the 
labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  field  shall  yield  no  meat  ; 
the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no 
herd  in  the  stalls ;  yet  we  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  we  will 
joy  in  the  God  of  our  salvation." 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   SPEECH, 

DELIVERED   IN   THE  CONVENTION  FOR   THE  PROVINCE 
OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

BY  JAMES  WILSON. 

Mr.  Chairmajj, 
Whence,  sir,  proceeds  all  the  invidious  and  ill-grounded 
clamor  against  the  colonists  of  America  ?     Why  are  they 
stigmatized  in    Britain,    as  licentious    and  ungovernable? 
Why  is  their  virtuous  opposition  to  the  illegal  attempts  of 
their  governors,  represented  under  the  falsest  colors,  and 
placed  in  the  most  ungracious  point  of  view  ?     This  oppo- 
sition, when  exhibited  in  its  true  light,  and  when  viewed, 
with  unjaundiced  eyes,  from  a  proper  situation,  and  at  a 
proper  distance,  stands    confessed    the  lovely    offspring  of 
freedom.     It  breathes  the  spirit  of  its  parent.     Of  this  ethe- 
real  spirit,  the  whole  conduct,  and  particularly  the  late  con- 
duct of  the  colonists,  has  shown  them  eminently  possessed. 
It  has  animated  and  regulated  every  part  of  their  proceed- 
ings.    It  has  been  recognized  to  be  genuine,  by  all   those 
symptoms  and  effects,  by  which  it  has  been  distinguished  in 
other  ages  and  other  countries.     It  has  been  calm  and  regu- 
lar :  it  has  not  acted  without  occasion  :  it  has  not  acted 
disproportionably  to  the  occasion.     As  the  attempts,  open 
or  secret,  to  undermine  or  to  destroy  it,  have  been  repeated 
or  enforced ;  in  a  just  degree,  its  vigilance  and  its  vigor  have 
been  exerted  to  defeat  or  to  disappoint  them.     As  its  exer- 
tions have  been  sufficient  for  those  purposes  hitherto,  let  us 
hence  draw  a  joyful  prognostic,  that  they  will  continue  suf- 
ficient for  those  purposes  hereafter.    It  is  not  yet  exhausted  j 


WILSOx's    SPEECH.  57 

it  will  still  operate  irresistibly  whenever  a  necessary  occa- 
sion shall  call  forth  its  strength. 

Permit  me,  sir,  by  appealing,  in  a  few  instances,  to  the 
spirit  and  conduct  of  the  colonists,  to  evince,  that  what  I 
have  said  of  them  is  just.  Did  they  disclose  any  uneasiness 
at  the  proceedings  and  claims  of  the  British  parliament,  be- 
fore those  claims  and  proceedings  afforded  a  reasonable  cause 
for  it  ?  Did  they  even  disclose  any  uneasiness,  when  a  rea- 
sonable cause  for  it  was  first  given  ?  Our  rights  were  inva- 
ded by  their  regulations  of  our  internal  policy.  We  sub- 
mitted to  them  :  we  were  unwilling  to  oppose  them.  The 
spirit  of  liberty  was  slow  to  act.  When  those  invasions 
were  renewed ;  when  the  efficacy  and  malignancy  of  them 
were  attempted  to  be  redoubled  by  the  stamp  act ;  when 
chains  were  formed  for  us ;  and  preparations  were  made  for 
rivetting  them  on  our  limbs,  Avhat  measures  did  we  pursue  ? 
The  spirit  of  liberty  found  it  necessary  now  to  act :  but  she 
acted  with  the  calmness  and  decent  dignity  suited  to  her 
character.  Were  we  rash  or  seditious  ?  Did  we  discover 
want  of  loyalty  to  our  sovereign  ?  Did  we  betray  want  of 
affection  to  our  brethren  in  Britain  ?  Let  our  dutiful  and 
reverential  petitions  to  the  throne — let  our  respectful,  though 
firm,  remonstrances  to  the  parliament — let  our  warm  and 
affectionate  addresses  to  our  brethren,  and  (we  will  still  call 
them,)  our  friends  in  Great  Britain — let  all  those,  transmit- 
ted from  every  part  of  the  continent,  testify  the  truth.  By 
their  testimony  let  our  conduct  be  tried. 

As  our  proceedings,  during  the  existence  and  operation  of 
the  stamp  act,  prove  fully  and  incontestably  the  painful  sen- 
sations that  tortured  our  breasts  from  the  prospect  of  disun- 
ion with  Britain  ;  the  peals  of  joy,  which  burst  forth  univer- 
sally, upon  the  repeal  of  that  odious  statute,  loudly  proclaim 
the  heartfelt  delight  produced  in  us  by  a  reconciliation  with 
her.  Unsuspicious,  because  undesigning,  we  buried  our 
complaints  and  the  causes  of  them,  in  oblivion,  and  returned, 
with  eagerness,  to  our  former  unreserved  confidence.     Our 


58  Wilson's  speech  in 

connexion  with  our  parent  country,  and  the  reciprocal  bles- 
sings resulting  from  it  to  her  and  to  us,  were  the  favorite 
and  pleasing  topics  of  our  public  discourses  and  our  private 
conversations.  Lulled  into  delightful  security,  we  dreamed 
of  nothing  but  increasing  fondness  and  friendship,  cemented 
and  strengthened  by  a  kind  and  perpetual  communication  of 
good  offices.  Soon,  however,  too  soon,  were  we  awakened 
from  the  soothing  dreams  !  Our  enemies  renewed  their  de- 
signs against  us,  not  with  less  malice,  but  with  more  art. — 
Under  the  plausible  pretence  of  regulating  our  trade,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  of  making  provision  for  the  administration  of 
justice  and  the  support  of  government,  in  some  of  the  colo- 
nies,  they  pursued  their  scheme  of  depriving  us  of  our  pro- 
perty  without  our  consent.  As  the  attempts  to  distress  us, 
and  to  degrade  us  to  a  rank  inferior  to  that  of  freemen,  ap- 
peared  now  to  be  reduced  into  a  regular  system,  it  became 
proper,  on  our  part,  to  form  a  regular  system  for  counterac- 
ting  them.  We  ceased  to  import  goods  from  Great  Britain. 
Was  this  measure  dictated  by  selfishness  or  by  licentious- 
ness ?  Did  it  not  injure  ourselves,  while  it  injured  the  British 
merchants' and  manufacturers?  Was  it  inconsistent  with 
the  peaceful  demeanor  of  subjects  to  abstain  from  making 
purchases,  when  our  freedom  and  our  safety  rendered  it  ne- 
cessary for  us  to  abstain  from  them  ?  A  regard  for  our  free- 
dom  and  our  safety  was  our  only  motive  ;  for  no  sooner  had 
the  parliament,  by  repealing  part  of  the  revenue  laws,  in- 
spired us  with  the  flattering  hopes,  that  they  had  departed 
from  their  intentions  of  oppressing  and  of  taxing  us,  than 
we  forsook  our  plan  for  defeating  those  intentions,  and  be- 
gan to  import  as  formerly.  Far  from  being  peevish  or  cap- 
tious, we  took  no  public  notice  even  of  their  declaratory  law 
of  dominion  over  us  :  our  candor  led  us  to  consider  it  as  a 
decent  expedient  of  retreating  from  the  actual  exercise  of 
that  dominion. 

But,  alas  !    the  root    of  bitterness  still    remained.     The 
duty  on  tea  was  reserved  to  furnish  occasion  to  the  ministry 


VINDICATION    OF    THE    COLONIES.  59 

for  a  new  effort  to  enslave  and  to  ruin  us  ;  and  the  East  In- 
dia Company  were  chosen,  and  consented  to  be  the  de- 
tested  instruments  of  ministerial  despotism  and  cruehy.  A 
cargo  of  their  tea  arrived  at  Boston.  By  a  low  artifice  of 
the  governor,  and  by  the  wicked  activity  of  the  tools  of  gov- 
ernment, it  was  rendered  impossible  to  store  it  up,  or  to  send 
it  back,  as  was  done  at  other  places.  A  number  of  persons, 
unknown,  destroyed  it. 

Let  us  here  make  a  concession  to  our  enemies  :  let  us  sup- 
pose,  that  the  transaction  deserves  all  the  dark  and  hideous 
colors,  in  which  they  have  painted  it :  let  us  even  suppose, 
(for  our  cause  admits  of  an  excess  of  candor,)  that  all  their 
exaggerated  accounts  of  it  were  confined  strictly  to  the 
truth  :  what  will  follow  ?  Will  it  follow,  that  every  British 
colony  in  America,  or  even  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
or  even  the  town  of  Boston,  in  that  colony,  merits  the  impu- 
tation of  being  factious  and  seditious  ?  Let  the  frequent 
mobs  and  riots,  that  have  happened  in  Great  Britain,  upon 
much  more  trivial  occasions,  shame  our  calumniators  into 
silence.  Will  it  follow,  because  the  rules  of  order  and  regu- 
lar government  were,  in  that  instance,  violated  by  the  offen- 
ders, that,  for  this  reason,  the  principles  of  the  constitution, 
and  the  maxims  of  justice,  must  be  violated  by  their  punish- 
ment ?  Will  it  follow,  because  those  who  were  guilty  could 
not  be  known,  that,  therefore,  those,  who  were  known  not  to 
be  guilty,  must  suffer  ?  Will  it  follow,  that  even  the  guil- 
ty should  be  condemned  without  being  heard — that  they 
should  be  condemned  upon  partial  testimony,  upon  the 
representations  of  their  avowed  and  embittered  enemies  ? 
Why  were  they  not  tried  in  courts  of  justice,  known  to  their 
constitution,  and  by  juries  of  their  neighborhood  ?  Their 
courts  and  their  juries  were  not,  in  the  case  of  captain  Pres- 
ton, transported  beyond  the  bounds  of  justice  by  their  resent- 
ment :  why,  then,  should  it  be  presumed,  that,  in  the  case  of 
those  offenders,  they  would  be  prevented  from  doing  justice 
by  their   affection  ?     But  the  colonists,  it   seems,  must  be 


60  WILSO>'s    SPEECH    IN 

stript  of  their  judicial,  as  well  as  of  their  legislative  powers. 
They  must  be  bound  by  a  legislature,  they  must  be  tried  by  a 
jurisdiction,  not  their  own.  Their  constitutions  must  be 
changed  :  their  liberties  must  be  abridged  :  and  those,  who 
shall  be  most  infamously  active  in  changing  their  constitu- 
lions  and  abridging  their  liberties,  must,  by  an  express  pro- 
vision, be  exempted  from  punishment. 

I  do  not  exaggerate  the  matter,  sir,  when  I  extend  these 
observations  to  all  the  colonists.  The  parliament  meant  to 
extend  the  effects  of  their  proceedings  to  all  the  colonists. 
The  plan,  on  which  their  proceedings  are  formed,  extends  to 
them  all.  From  an  incident  of  no  very  uncommon  or  atro- 
cious  nature,  which  happened  in  one  colony,  in  one  town  in 
that  colony,  and  in  which  only  a  few  of  the  inhabitants  of 
that  town  took  a  part,  an  occasion  has  been  taken  by  those, 
who  probably  intended  it,  and  who  certainly  prepared  the 
way  for  it,  to  impose  upon  that  colony,  and  to  lay  a  founda- 
tion and  a  precedent  for  imposing  upon  all  the  rest,  a  system 
of  statutes,  arbitrary,  unconstitutional,  oppressive,  in  every 
view,  and  in  every  degree  subversive  of  the  rights,  and  incon- 
sistent with  even  the  name  of  freemen. 

Were  the  colonists  so  blind  as  not  to  discern  the  conse- 
quences  of  these  measures  ?  Were  they  so  supinely  inactive, 
as  to  take  no  steps  for  guarding  against  them?  They  were 
not.  They  ought  not  to  have  been  so.  We  saw  a  breach 
made  in  those  barriers,  which  our  ancestors,  British  and 
American,  with  so  much  care,  with  so  much  danger,  with 
so  much  treasure,  and  with  so  much  blood,  had  erected,  ce- 
mented and  established  for  the  security  of  their  liberties,  and 
— with  filial  piety  let  us  mention  it — of  ours.  We  saw  the 
attack  actually  begun  upon  one  part  :  ought  we  to  have 
folded  our  hands  in  indolence,  to  have  lulled  our  eyes  in 
slumbers,  till  the  attack  was  carried  on,  so  as  to  become  irre- 
sistible, in  every  part.  Sir,  I  presume  to  think  not.  We 
were  roused  ;  we  were  alarmed,  as  we  had  reason  to  be. 
But  still  our  measures  have  been  such  as  the  spirit  of  liberty 


VINDICATION-    OF    THE     COLONIES.  61 

and  of  loyalty  directed  ;  not  such  as  a  spirit  of  sedition  or 
of  disaffection  would  pursue.  Our  councils  have  been  con- 
ducted witliout  rashness  and  faction  ;  our  resolutions  have 
been  taken  without  phrensy  or  fury. 

That  the  sentiments  of  every  individual  concerning  that 
important  object,  his  liberty,  might  be  known  and  regarded, 
meetings  have  been  held,  and  deliberations  carried  on  in 
every  particular  district.  That  the  sentiments  of  all  those 
individuals  might  gradually  and  regularly  be  collected  into  a 
single  point,  and  the  conduct  of  each  inspired  and  directed 
by  the  result  of  the  whole  united  ;  county  committees,  pro- 
vincial conventions,  a  continental  congress  have  been  ap- 
pointed, have  met  and  resolved.  By  this  means,  a  chain — 
more  inestimable,  and,  while  the  necessity  for  it  continues, 
we  hope,  more  indissoluble  than  one  of  gold — a  chain  of  free- 
dom  has  been  formed,  of  which  every  individual  in  these  co- 
lonies, who  is  willing  to  preserve  the  greatest  of  human  bles- 
sings, his  liberty,  has  the  pleasure  of  beholding  himself  a 
link. 

Are  these  measures,  sir,  the  brats  of  disloyalty,  of  disaf- 
fection ?  There  are  miscreants  among  us,  wasps  that  suck 
poison  from  the  most  salubrious  flowers,  who  tell  us  they  are. 
They  tell  us  that  all  those  assemblies  are  unlawful,  and  un- 
authorized by  our  constitutions  ;  and  that  all  their  delibera- 
tions and  resolutions  are  so  many  transgressions  of  the  duty 
of  subjects.  The  utmost  malice  brooding  over  the  utmost 
baseness,  and  nothing  but  such  a  hated  commixture,  must 
have  hatched  this  calumny.  Do  not  these  men  know — 
would  they  have  others  not  to  know — that  it  was  impossible 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  province,  and  for  the  legis- 
latures of  the  different  provinces,  to  communicate  their  sen- 
timents to  one  another  in  the  modes  appointed  for  such 
purposes,  by  their  different  constitutions  ?  Do  not  they 
know — would  they  have  others  not  to  know — that  all  this 
was  rendered  impossible  by  those  very  persons,  who  now,  or 

whose  minions  now,  urge  this  objection  against  us  ?     Do  not 
6 


62  Wilson's  speech  in 

they  know — would  they  have  others  not  to  know — that  the 
different  assembUes,  who  could  be  dissolved  by  the  govern- 
ors, were,  in  consequence  of  ministerial  mandates,  dissolved 
by  them,  whenever  they  attempted  to  turn  their  attention  to 
the  greatest  objects,  which,  as  guardians  of  the  liberty  of 
their  constituents,  could  be  presented  to  their  view  ?  The 
arch  enemy  of  the  human  race  torments  them  only  for  those 
actions,  to  which  he  has  tempted,  but  to  which  he  has  not 
necessarily  obliged  them.  Those  men  refine  even  upon  in- 
fernal malice  ;  they  accuse,  they  threaten  us,  (superlative 
impudence!)  for  taking  those  very  steps,  which  we  were 
laid  under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  taking  by  themselves, 
or  by  those  in  whose  hateful  service  they  are  enlisted.  But 
let  them  know,  that  our  counsels,  our  deliberations,  our  reso- 
lutions, if  not  authorized  by  the  forms,  because  that  was 
rendered  impossible  by  our  enemies,  are  nevertheless  author- 
ized by  that  which  weighs  much  more  in  the  scale  of  reason 
— by  the  spirit  of  our  constitutions.  Was  the  convention 
of  the  barons  at  Runnymede,  where  the  tyranny  of  John 
was  checked,  and  magna  charta  was  signed,  authorized  by 
the  forms  of  the  constitution  ?  Was  the  convention  par- 
liament, that  recalled  Charles  the  Second,  and  restored  the 
monarchy,  authorized  by  the  forms  of  the  constitution  ? 
Was  the  convention  of  lords  and  commons,  that  placed 
king  W^illiam  on  the  throne,  and  secured  the  monarchy  and 
liberty  likewise,  authorized  by  the  forms  of  the  constitution  ? 
I  cannot  conceal  my  emotions  of  pleasure,  when  I  observe, 
that  the  objections  of  our  adversaries  cannot  be  urged  against 
us,  but  in  common  with  those  venerable  assemblies,  whose 
proceedings  formed  such  an  accession  to  British  liberty  and 
British  renown. 

The  resolutions  entered  into,  and  the  recommendations 
given,  by  the  continental  congress,  have  stamped,  in  the 
plainest  characters,  the  genuine  and  enlightened  spirit  of 
liberty,  upon  the  conduct  observed,  and  the  measures  pur- 
sued, in  consequence  of  them.     As  the  invasions  of  our 


VINDICATIOX    OF   THE     COLOXIES.  63 

rights  have  become  more  and  more  formidable,  our  opposi- 
tion to  them  has  increased  in  firmness  and  vigor,  in  a  just, 
and  in  no  more  than  a  just,  proportion.  We  will  not  im- 
port goods  from  Great  Britain  or  Ireland  :  in  a  Uttle  time 
we  will  suspend  our  exportations  to  them :  and,  if  the  same 
illiberal  and  destructive  system  of  policy  be  still  carried  on 
against  us,  in  a  little  time  more  we  will  not  consume  their 
manufactures.  In  that  colony,  where  the  attacks  have  been 
most  open,  immediate  and  direct,  some  further  steps  have 
been  taken,  and  those  steps  have  met  with  the  deserved  ap- 
probation of  the  other  provinces. 

Is  this  scheme  of  conduct  allied  to  rebellion  ?  Can  any 
symptoms  of  disloyalty  to  his  majesty,  of  disinclination  to 
his  illustrious  family,  or  of  disregard  to  liis  authority,  be 
traced  in  it  ?  Those,  who  would  blend,  and  whose  crimes 
have  made  it  necessary  to  blend,  the  tyrannic  acts  of  admin- 
istration with  the  lawful  measures  of  government,  and  to 
veil  every  flagitious  procedure  of  the  ministry,  under  the 
venerable  mantle  of  majesty,  pretend  to  discover,  and  employ 
their  emissaries  to  publish  the  pretended  discovery  of  such 
symptoms.  We  are  not,  however,  to  be  imposed  upon  by 
such  shallow  artifices.  We  know  that  we  have  not  violated 
the  laws  or  the  constitution ;  and  that,  therefore,  we  are 
safe  as  long  as  the  laws  retain  their  force  and  the  constitu- 
tion its  vigor  ;  and  that,  whatever  our  demeanor  be,  we 
cannot  be  safe  much  longer. 


AN  ADDRESS, 

TO  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 
BY  WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON. 

Ge^jtlemen, 

Having,  already,  laid  before  the  assembly,  by  messages, 
the  several  matters  that  have  occurred  to  me,  as  more  par- 
ticularly demanding  their  attention,  during  the  present  ses- 
sion,  it  may  seem  less  necessary  to  address  you  in  the  moi*e 
ceremonious  form  of  a  speech.  But,  conceiving  it  my  duty 
to  the  state,  to  deliver  my  sentiments  on  the  present  situa- 
tion  of  affairs,  and  the  eventful  contest  between  Great  Bri- 
tain and  America,  which  could  not,  with  any  propriety,  be 
conveyed  in  occasional  messages,  you  will  excuse  my  giv- 
ing you  the  trouble  of  attending  for  that  purpose. 

After  deploring  with  you  the  desolation  spread  through 
this  state,  by  an  unrelenting  enemy  who  have,  indeed,  mark- 
ed their  progress  with  a  devastation  unknown  to  civilized 
nations,  and  evincive  of  the  most  implacable  vengeance,  I 
heartily  congratulate  you  upon  that  subsequent  series  of 
success,  wherewith  it  hath  pleased  the  Almighty,  to  crown 
the  American  arms ;  and  particularly  on  the  important  en- 
terprize  against  the  enemy  at  Trenton,  and  the  signal  vic- 
tory obtained  over  them  at  Princeton,  by  the  gallant  troops 
under  the  command  of  his  excellency  general  Washington. 
Considering  the  contemptible  figure  they  make  at  present, 
and  the  disgust  they  have  given  to  many  of  their  own  con- 
federates amongst  us,  by  their  more  than  Gothic  ravages, 
(for  thus  doth  the  great  Despoiler  of  events  often  deduce 


GOV.    llVIXGSTOX's    SPEECH.  65 

good  out  of  evil,)  their  irruption  into  our  dominion  will  pro- 
bably redound  to  the  public  benefit.  It  has  certainly  ena- 
bled us  the  more  effectually  to  distinguish  our  friends  from 
our  enemies.  It  has  winnowed  the  chaff  from  the  grain. 
It  has  discriminated  the  temporizing  politician,  who,  at  the 
first  appearance  of  danger,  was  determined  to  secure  his 
idol,  property,  at  the  hazard  of  the  general  weal,  from  the 
persevering  patriot,  who,  having  embarked  his  all  in  the 
common  cause,  chooses  rather  to  risk,  rather  to  lose  that 
all,  for  the  preservation  of  the  more  estimable  treasure,  lib- 
erty,  than  to  possess  it,  (enjoy  it  he  certainly  could  not,) 
upon  the  ignominious  terms  of  tamely  resigning  his  country 
and  posterity  to  perpetual  servitude.  It  has,  in  a  word, 
opened  the  eyes  of  those  who  were  made  to  believe,  that 
their  impious  merit,  in  abetting  our  persecutors,  would  ex. 
empt  them  from  being  involved  in  the  general  calamity. 
But  as  the  rapacity  of  the  enemy  was  boundless,  their  havoc 
was  indiscriminate,  and  their  barbarity  unparalleled.  They 
have  plundered  friends  and  foes.  Effects,  capable  of  divis- 
ion, they  have  divided.  Such  as  were  not,  they  have  de- 
stroyed.  They  have  warred  upon  decrepit  age ;  warred 
upon  defenceless  youth.  They  have  committed  hostilities 
against  the  professors  of  literature,  and  the  ministers  of  re- 
ligion ;  against  pubUc  records,  and  private  monuments,  and 
books  of  improvement,  and  papers  of  curiosity,  and  against 
the  arts  and  sciences.  They  have  butchered  the  wounded, 
asking  for  quarter ;  mangled  the  dying,  weltering  in  their 
blood  ;  refused  to  the  dead  the  rights  of  sepulture  ;  suffered 
prisoners  to  perish  for  want  of  sustenance ;  violated  the 
chastity  of  women ;  disfigured  private  dwellings  of  taste 
and  elegance  ;  and,  in  the  rage  of  impiety  and  barbarism, 
profaned  and  prostrated  edifices  dedicated  to  Almighty  God. 
And  yet  there  are  amongst  us,  who,  either  from  ambitious 
or  lucrative  motives,  or  intimidated  by  the  terror  of  their 
arms,  or  from  a  partial  fondness  for  the  British  constitution, 

or  deluded  by  insidious  propositions,  are  secretly  abetting, 

6* 


66  GOV.  Livingston's  speech  to 

or  openly  aiding  their  machinations  to  deprive  us  of  that 
liberty,  without  which  man  is  a  beast,  and  government  a 
curse. 

Besides  the  inexpressible  baseness  of  wishing  to  rise  on 
the  ruins  of  our  countiy,  or  to  acquire  riches  at  the  expense 
of  the  Uberties  and  fortunes  of  millions  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
how  soon  would  these  delusive  dreams,  upon  the  conquest  of 
America,  end  in  disappointment  1  For  where  is  the  fund  to 
recompense  those  retainers  to  the  British  army  ?  Was  every 
estate  in  America  to  be  confiscated,  and  converted  into 
cash,  the  product  would  not  satiate  the  avidity  of  their  na- 
tional dependants,  nor  furnish  an  adequate  repast  for  the 
keen  appetites  of  their  own  ministerial  beneficiaries.  In- 
stead of  gratuities  and  promotion,  these  unhappy  accompli- 
ces  in  their  tyranny,  would  meet  with  supercihous  looks  and 
cold  disdain  ;  and,  after  tedious  attendance,  be  finally  told 
by  their  haughty  masters,  that  they,  indeed,  approved  the 
treason,  but  despised  the  traitor.  Insulted,  in  fine,  by  their 
pretended  protectors,  but  real  betrayers,  and  goaded  with  the 
stings  of  their  own  consciences,  they  would  remain  the 
frightful  monuments  of  contempt  and  divine  indignation, 
and  linger  out  the  rest  of  their  days  in  self-condemnation 
and  remorse  ;  and,  in  weeping  over  the  ruins  of  their  coun- 
try, which  themselves  had  been  instrumental  in  reducing  to 
desolation  and  bondage. 

Others  there  are,  who,  terrified  by  the  power  of  Britain, 
have  persuaded  themselves,  that  she  is  not  only  formidable, 
but  irresistible.  That  her  power  is  great,  is  beyond  ques- 
tion ;  that  it  is  not  to  be  despised,  is  the  dictate  of  common 
prudence.  But,  then,  we  ought  also  to  consider  her  as  weak 
in  council,  and  ingulfed  in  debt ;  reduced  in  her  trade  ;  re- 
duced in  her  revenue  ;  immersed  in  pleasure  ;  enervated 
with  luxury  ;  and,  in  dissipation  and  venality,  surpassing  all 
Europe.  We  ought  to  consider  her  as  hated  by  a  potent 
rival,  her  natural  enemy,  and  particularly  exasperated  by 
her  imperious  conduct  in  the  last  war,  as  well  as  her  inso* 


THE    LEGISLATURE    OF    NEW   JERSEY.  67 

lent  manner  in  commencing  it ;  and  thence  inflamed  with 
resentment,  and  only  watching  a  favorable  juncture  for 
opening  hostilities.  We  ought  to  consider  the  amazing  ex- 
pense and  difficulty  of  transporting  troops  and  provisions 
above  three  thousand  miles,  with  the  impossibility  of  re- 
cruiting their  army  at  a  less  distance ;  save  only  with  such 
recreants,  whose  conscious  guilt  must,  at  the  first  approach 
of  danger,  appal  the  stoutest  heart.  Those  insuperable  ob- 
stacles are  known  and  acknowledged  by  every  virtuous  and 
impartial  man  in  the  nation.  Even  the  author  of  this  hor- 
rid war,  is  incapable  of  conceaUng  his  own  confusion  and 
distress.  Too  great  to  be  wholly  suppressed,  it  frequently 
discovers  itself  in  the  course  of  his  speech — a  speech  terri- 
ble  in  word,  and  fraught  with  contradiction ;  breathing 
threatenings  and  betraying  terror  ;  a  motley  mixture  of 
magnanimity  and  consternation,  of  grandeur  and  abasement. 
With  troops  invincible,  he  dreads  a  defeat,  and  wants  rein- 
forcements.  Victorious  in  America,  and  triumphant  on 
the  ocean,  he  is  a  humble  dependant  on  a  petty  prince  ;  and 
apprehends  an  attack  on  his  own  metropolis ;  and,  with  full 
confidence  in  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  France,  he 
trembles  upon  his  throne  at  her  secret  designs  and  open  pre- 
parations. 

With  all  this,  we  ou^ht  to  contrast  the  numerous  and 
hardy  sons  of  America,  inured  to  toil,  seasoned  alike  to  heat 
and  cold,  hale,  robust,  patient  of  fatigue,  and,  from  their  ar- 
dent love  of  liberty,  ready  to  face  danger  and  death  ;  the 
immense  extent  of  continent,  which  our  infatuated  enemies 
have  undertaken  to  subjugate  ;  tlie  remarkable  unanimity 
of  its  inhabitants,  notwithstanding  the  exception  of  a  few 
apostates  and  deserters ;  their  unshaken  resolution  to  main- 
tain their  freedom  or  perish  in  the  attempt ;  the  fertility  of 
our  soil  in  all  kinds  of  provisions  necessary  for  the  support 
of  war ;  our  inexhaustible  internal  resources  for  military 
stores  and  naval  armaments ;  our  compai'ative  economy  in 
public  expenses ;  and  the  millions  we  save  by  having  repro- 


68  GOV.  Livingston's  speech  to 

bated  the  further  exchange  of  our  vakiable  staples  for  the 
worthless  baubles  and  finery  of  English  manufacture.  Add 
to  this,  that  in  a  cause  so  just  and  righteous  on  our  part, 
we  have  the  highest  reason  to  expect  the  blessing  of  heaven 
upon  our  glorious  conflict.  For,  who  can  doubt  the  inter- 
position of  the  Supremely  Just,  in  favor  of  a  people,  forced 
to  recur  to  arms  in  defence  of  every  thing  dear  and  precious, 
against  a  nation  deaf  to  our  complaints,  rejoicing  in  our 
misery,  wantonly  aggravating  our  oppressions,  determined 
to  divide  our  substance,  and,  by  fire  and  sword,  to  compel 
us  into  submission  ? 

Respecting  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain,  bating  cer- 
tain  royal  prerogatives  of  dangerous  tendency,  it  has  been 
applauded  by  the  best  judges ;  and  displays,  in  its  original 
structure,  illustrious  proofs  of  wisdom  and  the  knowledge  of 
human  nature.  But  what  avails  the  best  constitution  with 
the  worst  administration  ?  For,  what  is  their  present  go- 
vernment, and  what  has  it  been  for  years  past,  but  a  pen- 
sioned confederacy  against  reason,  and  virtue,  and  honor, 
and  patriotism,  and  the  rights  of  man  ?  What  were  the 
leaders,  but  a  set  of  political  craftsmen,  flagiciously  conspir- 
ing to  erect  the  babel,  despotism,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  an- 
cient and  beautiful  fabric  of  law ;  a  shameless  cabal,  notori- 
ously employed  in  deceiving  the  prince,  corrupting  the  par- 
liament, debasing  the  people,  depressing  the  most  virtuous, 
and  exalting  the  most  profligate;  in  short,  an  insatiable 
junto  of  public  spoilers,  lavishing  the  national  wealth,  and, 
by  peculation  and  plunder,  accumulating  a  debt  already 
enormous  ?  And  what  was  the  majority  of  their  parliament, 
formerly  the  most  august  assembly  in  the  world,  but  venal 
pensioners  to  the  crown  ;  a  perfect  mockery  of  all  popular 
representation  ;  and,  at  the  absolute  devotion  of  every  mi- 
nister ?  What  were  the  characteristics  of  their  administra- 
tion of  the  provinces  ?  The  substitution  of  regal  instruc- 
tions in  the  room  of  law  ;  the  multiplication  of  officers  to 
strengthen  the  court  interest ;    perpetually   extending  the 


THE    LEGISLATURE    OF    NEW   JERSEY.  69 

prerogatives  of  the  king,  and  retrenching  the  rights  of  the 
subjects ;  advancing  to  the  most  eminent  stations  men,  with- 
out  education,  and  of  the  most  dissohite  manners  ;  employ. 
ing,  with  the  people's  money,  a  band  of  emissaries  to  mis- 
represent and  traduce  the  people  ;  and,  to  crown  the  system 
of  misrule,  sporting  our  persons  and  estates,  by  filling  the 
highest  seats  of  justice  with  bankrupts,  bullies  and  block- 
heads. 

From  such  a  nation,  (though  all  this  we  bore,  and  should 
perhaps  have  borne  for  another  century,  had  they  not  avow- 
edly claimed  the  unconditional  disposal  of  life  and  property,) 
it  is  evidently  our  duty  to  be  detached.  To  remain  happy 
or  safe,  in  our  connexion  with  her,  became  thenceforth 
utterly  impossible.  She  is  moreover  precipitating  her  own 
fall,  or  the  age  of  miracles  is  returned,  and  Britain  a  phe- 
nomenon in  the  political  world,  without  a  parallel.  The 
proclamations  to  ensnare  the  timid  and  credulous,  are  be- 
yond expression  disingenuous  and  tantalizing.  In  a  gilded 
pill  they  conceal  real  poison :  they  add  insult  to  injury. 
After  repeated  intimations  of  commissioners  to  treat  with 
America,  we  are  presented,  instead  of  the  peaceful  olive- 
branch,  with  the  devouring  sword :  instead  of  being  visited 
by  plenipotentiaries  to  bring  matters  to  an  accommodation, 
we  are  invaded  by  an  army,  in  their  opinion,  able  to  subdue 
us.  And  upon  discovering  their  error,  the  terms  propound- 
ed amount  to  this  :  "  If  you  will  submit  without  resistance, 
we  are  content  to  take  your  property,  and  spare  your  lives  ; 
and  then  (the  consummation  of  arrogance !)  Me  will  gra- 
ciously pardon  you,  for  having  hitherto  defended  both." 

Considering,  then,  their  bewildered  councils,  their  blunder- 
ing ministry,  their  want  of  men  and  mone)'^,  their  impaired 
credit  and  declining  commerce,  their  lost  revenues  and  star- 
ving islands,  the  corruption  of  their  parliament,  with  the 
effeminacy  of  their  nation,  and  the  success  of  their  enter- 
prize  is  against  all  probabiUty.  Considering  further,  the 
horrid  enormity   of  their  waging  war  against  their  own 


70  GOV.  Livingston's  speech  to 

brethren,  expostulating  for  an  audience,  complaining  of  in- 
juries, and  supplicating  for  redress,  and  Avaging  it  with  a 
ferocity  and  vengeance  unknown  to  modern  ages,  and  con- 
trary to  all  laws,  human  and  divine  ;  and  we  can  neither 
question  the  justice  of  our  opposition,  nor  the  assistance  of 
heaven  to  crown  it  with  victory. 

Let  us  not,  however,  presumptuously  rely  on  the  interpo- 
sition of  providence,  without  exerting  those  efforts  which 
it  is  our  duty  to  exert,  and  which  our  bountiful  Creator  has 
enabled  us  to  exert.  Let  us  do  our  part  to  open  the  next 
campaign  with  redoubled  vigor  ;  and  until  the  United  States 
have  humbled  the  pride  of  Britain,  and  obtained  an  honora- 
ble peace,  cheerfully  furnish  our  proportion  for  continuing 
the  war — a  war,  founded,  on  our  side,  in  the  immutable  ob- 
ligation  of  self-defence,  and  in  support  of  freedom,  of  virtue, 
and  every  thing  tending  to  ennoble  our  nature,  and  render  a 
people  happy  ;  on  their  part,  prompted  by  boundless  avarice, 
and  a  thirst  for  absolute  sway,  and  built  on  a  claim  repug- 
nant to  every  principle  of  reason  and  equity — a  claim  sub- 
versive to  all  liberty,  natural,  civil,  moral  and  religious ; 
incompatible  with  human  happiness,  and  usurping  the  attri- 
butes  of  Deity,  degrading  man  and  blaspheming  God. 

Let  us  all,  therefore,  of  every  rank  and  degree,  remember 
our  plighted  faith  and  honor,  to  maintain  the  cause  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes.  Let  us  inflexibly  persevere  in  prosecu- 
ting, to  a  happy  period,  what  has  been  so  gloriously  begun, 
and  hitherto  so  prosperously  conducted.  And  let  those,  in 
more  distinguished  stations,  use  all  their  influence  and  au- 
thority,  to  rouse  the  supine,  to  animate  the  irresolute,  to 
conflrm  the  wavering,  and  to  draw  from  his  lurking  hole  the 
skulking  neutral,  who,  leaving  to  others  the  heat  and  burden 
of  the  day,  means  in  the  final  result  to  reap  the  fruits  of 
that  victory,  for  which  he  will  not  contend.  Let  us  be  pe- 
culiarly assiduous  in  bringing  to  condign  punishment  those 
detestable  parricides,  who  have  been  openly  active  against 
their  country.     And  may  we,  in  all  our  deliberations  and 


THE    LEGISLATURE    OF   NEW    JERSEY.  71 

proceedings,  be  influenced  and  directed  by  the  great  Arbiter 
of  the  fate  of  nations,  by  whom  empires  rise  and  fall,  and 
who  will  not  always  suffer  the  sceptre  of  the  wicked  to  rest 
on  the  lot  of  the  righteous,  but  in  due  time  avenge  an  injured 
people  on  their  unfeeling  oppressor,  and  his  bloody  instru- 
ments. 


EXTRACT  FROM  AN  ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED    ON   THE   LAYING   THE   CORNER    STONE   OF 
THE  BUNKER-HILL  MONUMENT. 

BY  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

We  know,  indeed,  that  the  record  of  illustrious  actions  is 
most  safely  deposited  in  the  universal  remembrance  of  man- 
kind.     We  know,  that  if  we  could  cause  this  structure  to 
ascend,  not   only  till  it  reached  the  skies,  but  till  it  pierced 
them,  its  broad  surfaces  could  still  contain  but  a  part  of  that, 
which,  in  an  age  of  knowledge,  hath  already  been   spread 
over  the  earth,  and  which  history  charges  itself  with  mak- 
ing known  to  all  future  times.     We  know,  that  no  inscrip- 
tion  on  entablatures  less  broad  than  the  earth  itself,  can  carry 
information  of  the  events  we  commemorate,  where  it  has 
not  already  gone  ;  and  that  no  structure,  which  shall  not 
outlive  the  duration  of  letters  and  knowledge  among  men, 
can  prolong  the  memorial.     But  our  object  is,  by  this  edifice 
to  show  our  deep  sense  of  the  value  and  importance  of  the 
achievements   of   our  ancestors ;  and,  by    presenting  this 
work  of  gratitude  to  the  eye,  to  keep  alive  similar  senti- 
ments, and  to  foster  a  constant  regard  for  the  principles  of 
the  Revolution.     Human  beings  are  composed  not  of  reason 
only,  but  of  imagination  also,  and  sentiment ;  and  that  is 
neither  wasted  nor  misapplied  which  is  appropriated  to  the 
purpose  of  giving  right  direction  to  sentiments,  and  opening 
proper  springs  of  feeling  in  the  heart.     Let  it  not  be  sup- 
posed  that  our  object  is  to  perpetuate  national  hostility,  or 
even  to  cherish  a  mere  military  spirit.     It  is  higher,  purer, 
nobler.     We  consecrate  our  work  to  the  spirit  of  national 


Webster's   address.  73 

independence,  and  we  wish  that  the  Hght  of  peace  may  rest 
upon  it  forever.     We  rear  a  memorial  of  our  conviction  ot 
that  unmeasured  benefit,  which  has  been  conferred  on  our 
land,  and  of  the  happy  influences,  which  have  been  produ- 
ced, by  the  same  events,  on  the  general  interests  of  mankind. 
We  come,  as  Americans,  to  mark  a  spot,  which  must  forever 
be  dear  to  us  and  our  posterity.     We  wish,  that  whosoever, 
in  all  coming  time,  shall  turn  his  eye  hither,  may  behold  that 
the  place  is  not  undistinguished,  where  the  first  great  battle 
of  the  Revolution  was  fought.     We  wish  that  this  structure 
may  proclaim  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  that  event, 
to  every  class  and  every  age.     We  wish,  that  infancy  may 
learn  the  purpose  of  its  erection  from  maternal  lips,  and  that 
weary  and  withered  age  may  behold  it,  and  be  solaced  by 
the  recollections  which  it   suggests.     We  wish,  that  labor 
may  look  up  here,  and  be  proud,  in  the   midst  of  its  toil. 
We  wish,  that  in  those  days  of  disaster,  which,  as  they  come 
on  all  nations,  must  be  expected  to  come  on  us   also,  des- 
ponding patriotism  may  turn  its  eyes  hitherward,   and  be 
assured  that    the    foundations  of  our  national  power  still 
stand  strong.     We  wish,  that  this  column,  rising  towards 
heaven  among  the  pointed  spires  of  so  many  temples  dedi- 
cated to  God,  may  contribute  also  to  produce,  in  all  minds,  a 
pious  feeling  of  dependence  and  gratitude.     We  wish,  finally, 
that  the  last  object  on  the  sight  of  him  who  leaves  his  native 
shore,  and  the  first  to  gladden  his  who  revisits  it,  may  be 
something  which  shall  remind  him  of  the  liberty   and   the 
glory  of  his  country.     Let  it  rise,  till  it  meet  the  sun  in  his 
coming  ;  let  the  earliest  light  of  the  morning  gild  it,  and 
parting  day  linger  and  play  on  its  summit. 

We  live  in  a  most  extraordinary  age.  Events  so  various 
and  so  important,  that  they  might  crowd  and  distinguish 
centuries,  are,  in  our  times,  compressed  within  the  compass 
of  a  single  life.  When  has  it  happened  that  history  has  had 
so  much  to  record,  in  the  same  term  of  years,  as  since  the 

17th  of  June,   1775?     Our  own  Revolution,  which,  under 

7 


74  Webster's  addkess, 

other  circumstances,  might  itself  have  been  expected  to  OC' 
casioned  a  war  of  half  a  century,  has  been  achieved ;  twenty- 
four  sovereign  and  independent  states  erected  ;  and  a  gen- 
eral government  established  over  them,  so  safe,  so  wise,  so 
free,  so  practical,  that  we  might  well  wonder  its  establish- 
ment should  have  been  accomplished  so  soon,  were  it  not  far 
the  greater  wonder,  that  it  should  have  been  established  at 
all.  Two  or  three  millions  of  people  have  been  augmented 
to  twelve  ;  and  the  great  forests  of  the  West  prostrated  be- 
neath the  arm  of  successful  industry ;  and  the  dwellers  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  become  the  fellow- 
citizens  and  neighbors  of  those  who  cultivate  the  hills  of 
New  England.  We  have  a  commerce,  that  leaves  no  sea 
unexplored  ;  navies,  which  take  no  law  from  superior  force  ; 
revenues,  adequate  to  all  the  exigencies  of  the  government, 
almost  without  taxation  ;  and  peace  with  all  nations,  founded 
on  equal  rights  and  mutual  respect. 

Europe,  within  the  same  period,  has  been  agitated  by  a 
mighty  revolution,  which,  while  it  has  been  felt  in  the  indi- 
vidual condition  and  happiness  of  almost  every  man,  has 
shaken  to  the  centre  her  political  fabric,  and  dashed  against 
one  another,  thrones  which  had  stood  tranquil  for  ages. 
On  this,  our  continent,  our  own  example  has  been  folloAved  ; 
and  colonies  have  sprung  up  to  be  nations.  Unaccustomed 
sounds  of  liberty  and  free  government  have  reached  us  from 
beyond  the  track  of  the  sun  ;  and  at  this  moment  the  domin- 
ion  of  European  power,  in  this  continent,  from  the  place 
where  we  stand  to  the  south  pole,  is  annihilated  forever. 

In  the  mean  time,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  such  has 
been  the  general  progress  of  knowledge  ;  such  the  improve- 
ments  in  legislation,  in  commerce,  in  the  arts,  in  letters,  and 
above  all,  in  liberal  ideas,  and  the  general  spirit  of  the  age, 
that  the  whole  world  seems  changed. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  that  this  is  but  a  faint  abstract  of 
the  things  which  have  happened  since  the  day  of  the  battle 
of  Bunker-Hill,  we  are  but  fifty  years  removed  from  it ;  and 


AT    BUNKER    HILL.  75 

we  now  stand  here,  to  enjoy  all  the  blessings  of  our  own  con- 
dition, and  to  look  abroad  on  the  brightened  prospects  of  the 
world,  while  we  hold  still  among  us  some  of  those,  who  were 
active  agents  in  the  scenes  of  1775,  and  who  are  now  here, 
from  every  quarter  of  New  England,  to  visit,  once  more,  and 
under  circumstances  so  affecting,  I  had  almost  said  so  over- 
whelming, this  renowned  theatre  of  their  courage  and  patri- 
otism. 

Venerable   men  !  you  have   eome  down  to  us,   from   a 
former  generation.     Heaven  has  bounteously  lengthened  out 
your  lives,  that  you  might  behold  this  joyous  day.     You  are 
now,  where  you  stood,  fifty  years  ago,  this  very  hour,  with 
your  brothers,  and  your  neighbors,  shoulder  to   shoulder,  in 
the  strife  of  your  country.     Behold  how  altered !    The  same 
heavens  are  indeed  over  your  heads  ;  the  same  ocean  rolls 
at  your  feet ;  but  all  else,  how  changed  !    You  hear  now  no 
roar  of  hostile  cannon,  you  see  no  mixed  volumes  of  smoke 
and  flame  rising  from  burning  Charlestown.     The  ground 
strewed  with  the  dead  and  the  dying  ;  the  impetuous  charge ; 
the  steady  and  successful  repulse  ;  the  loud  call  to  repeated 
assault ;   the  summoning  of  all  that  is  manly  to  repeated  re- 
sistance !  a  thousand  bosoms  freely  and  fearlessly  bared  in 
an  instant  to  whatever  of  terror  there  may  be  in  war  and 
death  ; — all  these  you  have  witnessed,  but  you  witness  them 
no  more.     All  is  peace.     The  heights  of  yonder  metropolis, 
its  towers  and  roofs,  which  you  then  saw  filled  with  wives 
and   children   and  countrymen  in  distress  and  terror,  and 
looking  with  unutterable  emotions  for  the  issue  of  the  com- 
bat,  have  presented  you  to-day  with  the  sight  of  its  whole 
happy  population,  come  out  to  welcome  and  greet  you  with 
a  universal  jubilee.     Yonder   proud  ships,  by   a  felicity  of 
position  appropriately  lying  at  the  foot  of  this  mount,  and 
seeming  fondly  to  cling  around  it,  are  not  means  of  annoy- 
ance to  you,  but  your  country's  own  means  of  distinction 
and  defence.     All  is  peace ;  and  God  has  granted  you  this 
sight  of  your  country's  happiness,  ere  you  slumber  in  the 


76  WEBSTER'S  ADDKES^ 

grave  forever.  He  has  allowed  you  to  behold  and  to  partake 
the  reward  of  your  patriotic  toils  ;  and  he  has  allowed  us 
your  sons  and  countrymen,  to  meet  you  here,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  present  generation,  in  the  name  of  your  country, 
in  the  name  of  liberty,  to  thank  you  ! 

But,  alas !  you  are  not  all  here  !  Time  and  the  sword 
have  tltinned  your  ranks..  Prescott,  Putnam,  Stark,  Brooks, 
Read,  Pomeroy,  Bridge  !  our  eyes  seek  for  you  in  vain  amids-t 
this  broken  band.  You  are  gathered  to  your  fathers,  and 
live  only  to  your  country  in  her  grateful  remembrance,  and 
your  own  bright  example.  But  let  us  not  too  much  grieve, 
that  you  have  met  the  common  fate  of  men.  You  lived,  at 
least,  long  enough  to  know  that  your  work  had  been  nobly 
and  successfully  accomplished.  You  lived  to  see  your  coun- 
try's independence  established,  and  to  sheathe  your  swords 
from  war.  On  the  light  of  liberty  you  saw  arise  the  light  of 
Peace,  like 

'another  monir 
Risen  on  mid-noon ;' — 

and  the  sky  on  which  you  closed  your  eyes,  was  cloudless. 

But — ah  ! — Him  !  the  first  great  Martyr  in  this  great 
cause  !  Him  !  the  premature  victim  of  his  own  self-devot- 
ing heart !  Him  !  the  head  of  our  civil  councils,  and  the  des- 
tined  leader  of  our  military  bands  ;  whom  nothing  brought 
hither,  but  the  unquenchable  fire  of  his  own  spirit  ;  Him  ! 
cut  off"  by  Providence,  in  the  hour  of  overwhelming  anxiety 
and  thick  gloom  ;  falling,  ere  he  saw  the  star  of  his  country 
rise  ;  pouring  out  his  generous  Wood,  like  water,  before  he 
knew  whether  it  would  fertilize  a  land  of  freedom  or  of 
bondage  !  how  shall  I  struggle  with  the  emotions,  that  stifle 
the  utterance  of  thy  name  ! — Our  poor  work  may  perish  ; 
but  thine  shall  endure  ?  This  monument  may  moulder  away  ; 
the  solid  ground  it  rests  upon  may  sink  down  to  a  level 
with  the  sea  ;  but  thy  memory  shall  not  fail !  Wheresoever 
among  men  a  heart  shall  be  found,  that  beats  to  the  trans- 


AT    Btr>^KER   HILL.  77 

ports  of  patriotism  and  liberty,  its  aspirations  shall  be  to 
claim  kindred  with  thy  spirit ! 

But  the  scene  amidst  which  we  stand  does  not  permit  us 
to  confine  our  thoughts  or  our  sympathies  to  those  fearless 
spirits,  who  hazarded  or  lost  their  lives  on  this  consecrated 
spot.  We  have  the  happines  to  rejoice  here  in  the  presence 
of  a  most  worthy  representation  of  the  survivors  of  the 
whole  Revolutionary  Army. 

Veterans  !  you  are  the  remnant  of  many  a  well  fought 
field.  You  bring  with  you  marks  of  honor  from  Trenton 
and  Monmouth,  from  Yorktown,  Camden,  Bennington  and 
Saratoga.  Veterans  of  half  a  century !  when  in  your 
youthful  days,  you  put  every  thing  at  hazard  in  your  coun- 
try's cause,  good  as  that  cause  was,  and  sanguine  as  youth 
is,  still  your  fondest  hopes  did  not  stretch  onward  to  an 
hour  like  this  !  At  a  period  to  which  you  could  not  reason- 
ably have  expected  to  arrive  ;  at  a  moment  of  national  pros- 
perity, such  as  you  could  never  have  foreseen,  you  are  now 
met,  here,  to  enjoy  the  fellowship  of  old  soldiers,  and  to  re- 
ceive the  overflowings  of  a  universal  gratitude. 

But  your  agitated  countenances  and  your  heaving  breasts 
inform  me,  that  even  this  is  not  an  unmixed  joy.  I  perceive 
that  a  tumult  of  contending  feelings  rushes  upon  you.  The 
images  of  the  dead,  as  well  as  the  persons  of  the  living,  throng 
to  your  embraces.  The  scene  overwhelms  you,  and  I  turn 
from  it.  May  the  Father  of  all  mercies  smile  upon  your 
declining  years,  and  bless  them  !  And  when  you  shall  here 
have  exchanged  your  embraces  ;  when  you  shall  once  more 
have  pressed  the  hands  which  have  been  so  often  extended 
to  give  succor  in  adversity,  or  grasped  in  the  exultation  of 
victory  ;  then  look  abroad  into  this  lovely  land,  which  your 
young  valor  defended,  and  mark  the  happiness  with  which  it 
is  filled  ;  yea,  look  abroad  into  the  whole  earth,  and  see  what 
a  name  you  have  contributed  to  give  to  your  country,  and 
what  a  praise  you  have  added  to  freedom,  and  then  rejoice  in 


78  Webster's  address, 

the  sympathy  and  gratitude,  which  beam  upon  your  last 
days  from  the  improved  condition  of  mankind. 

The  leading  reflection,  to  which  this  occasion  seems  to 
invite  ns,  respects  the  great  changes  which  have  happened 
in  the  fifty  years  since  the  battle  of  Bunker-Hill  was  fought. 
And  it  peculiarly  marks  the  character  of  the  present  age, 
that,  in  looking  at  these  changes,  and  in  estimating  their 
effect  on  our  condition,  we  are  obliged  to  consider,  not  what 
has  been  done  in  our  own  country  only,  but  in  others  also. 
In  these  interesting  times,  while  nations  are  making  sepa- 
rate and  individual  advances  in  improvement,  they  make, 
too,  a  common  progress  ;  like  vessels  on  a  common  tide, 
propelled  by  the  gales  at  different  rates,  according  to  their 
several  structure  and  management,  but  all  moved  forwai*d  by 
one  mighty  current  beneath,  strong  enough  to  bear  onward 
whatever  does  not  sink  beneath  it. 

A  chief  distinction  of  the  present  day  is  a  community  of 
opinions  and  knowledge   amongst  men  in  different  nations, 
existing  in  a  degree  heretofore  unknown.     Knowledge  has 
in  our  time,  triumphed,  and  is  triumphing,  over  distance, 
over  difference  of  languages,  over  diversity  of  habits,  over 
prejudice,  and  over  bigotry.     The  civilized  and  Christian 
world  is  fast  learning  the  great  lesson,  that  difference  of  na- 
tion does  not  imply  necessary  hostility,  and  that  all  contact 
need  not  be  war.     The  whole  world  is  becoming  a  common 
field  for  intellect  to  act  in.     Energy  of  mind,  genius,  power, 
wheresoever  it  exists,  may  speak  out  in  any  tongue,  and  the 
world  will  h^ar  it.     A  great  chord  of  sentiment  and  feeling 
runs  through  two  continents,  and  vibrates  over  both.    Every 
breeze  wafts   intelligence  from  country  to  country ;  every 
wave  rolls  it  ;  all  give  it   forth,   and  all  in  turn  receive  it. 
There  is  a  vast  commerce  of  ideas  ;  there  are  marts  and  ex- 
changes  for  intellectual  discoveries,  and  a  wonderful  fellow- 
ship of  those  individual  intelligences  which  make  up  the 
mind  and  opinion  of  the  age.     Mind  is  the  great  lever  of  all 


AT    BUJIKER  HILL.  79 

things  ;  human  thought  is  the  process  by  which  human  ends 
are  ultimately  answered ;  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  so 
astonishing  in  the  last  half  century,  has  rendered  innumera- 
ble minds,  variously  gifted  by  nature,  competent  to  be  com- 
petitors, or  fellow-workers,  on  the  theatre  of  intellectual  ope- 
ration. 

From  these  causes,  important  improvements  have  taken 
place  in  the  personal  condition  of  individuals.  Generally 
speaking,  mankind  are  not  only  better  fed,  and  better  cloth- 
ed, but  they  are  able  also  to  enjoy  more  leisure  ;  they  pos- 
sess more  refinement  and  more  self-respect.  'A  superior 
tone  of  education,  manners,  and  habits  prevails.  This  re- 
mark, most  true  in  its  application  to  our  own  country,  is 
also  partly  true,  when  applied  elsewhere.  It  is  proved  by 
the  vastly  augmented  consumption  of  those  articles  of  man- 
ufacture and  of  commerce  which  contribute  to  the  comforts 
and  the  decencies  of  life  ;  an  augmentation  which  has  far 
outrun  the  progress  of  population.  And  while  the  unexam- 
pled and  almost  incredible  use  of  machinery  would  seem  to 
supply  the  place  of  labor,  labor  still  finds  its  occupation  and 
its  reward  ;  so  wisely  has  Providence  adjusted  men's  wants 
and  desires  to  their  condition  and  their  capacity. 

Any  adequate  survey,  however,  of  the  progress  made  in 
the  last  half  century,  in  the  poUte  and  the  mechanic  arts, 
in  machinery  and  manufactures,  in  commerce  and  agricul- 
ture, in  letters  and  in  science,  would  require  volumes.  I 
must  abstain  wholly  from  these  subjects,  and  turn,  for  a  mo- 
ment, to  the  contemplation  of  what  has  been  done  on  the 
great  question  of  politics  and  government.  This  is  the 
master  topic  of  the  age  ;  and  during  the  whole  fifty  years,  it 
has  intensely  occupied  the  thoughts  of  men.  The  nature  of 
civil  government,  its  ends  and  uses,  have  been  canvassed 
and  investigated  ;  ancient  opinions  attacked  and  defended ; 
new  ideas  recommended  and  resisted,  by  whatever  power 
the  mind  of  man  could  bring  to  the  controversy.  From 
the  closet  and  tho  public  halls  the  debate  has  been  transfer- 


80  Webster's  address, 

red  to  the  field  ;  and  the  world  has  been  shaken  by  wars  of' 
unexampled  magnitude,  and  the  greatest  variety  of  fortune. 
A  day  of  peace  has  at  length  succeeded  ;  and  now  that  the 
strife  has  subsided,  and  the  smoke  cleared  away,  we  may 
begin  to  see  what  has  actually  been  done,  permanently 
changing  the  state  and  condition  of  human  society.  And 
without  dwelling  on  particular  circumstances,  it  is  most  ap- 
parent, that,  from  the  beforementioned  causes  of  augmented 
knowledge  and  improved  individual  condition,  a  real,  sub- 
stantial,  and  important  change  has  taken  place,  and  is  taking 
place,  greatly  beneficial,  on  the  whole,  to  human  liberty  and 
human  happiness. 

The  great  wheel  of  political  revolution  began  to  move  in 
America.  Here  its  rotation  was  guarded,  regular,  and  safe. 
Transferred  to  the  other  continent,  from  unfortunate  but 
natural  causes,  it  received  an  irregular  and  violent  impulse  ; 
it  whirled  along  with  a  fearful  celerity ;  till  at  length,  like 
the  chariot  wheels  in  the  races  of  antiquity,  it  took  fire  from 
the  rapidity  of  its  own  motion,  and  blazed  onward,  spreading 
conflagration  and  terror  around. 

We  learn  from  the  result  of  this  experiment,  how  fortu- 
nate  was  our  own  condition,  and  how  admirably  the  character 
of  our  people  was  calculated  for  making  the  great  example 
of  popular  governments.  The  possession  of  power  did  not 
turn  the  heads  of  the  American  people,  for  they  had  long 
been  in  the  habit  of  exercising  a  great  portion'of  self-control. 
Although  the  paramount  authority  of  the  parent  state  existed 
over  them,  yet  a  large  field  of  legislation  had  always  been 
open  to  our  colonial  assemblies.  They  were  accustomed  to 
representative  bodies  and  the  forms  of  free  government  ; 
they  understood  the  doctrine  of  the  division  of  power  among 
different  branches,  and  the  necessity  of  checks  on  each. 
The  character  of  our  countrymen,  moreover,  was  sober, 
moral  and  religious ;  and  there  was  little  in  the  change  to 
shock  their  feelings  of  justice  and  humanity,  or  even  to  dis- 
turb an  honest  prejudice.     We  had  no  domestic  throne  to 


AT    BUNKER    HILL.  81 

overturn,  no  privileged  orders  to  cast  down,  no  violent 
changes  of  property  to  encounter.  In  the  American  Revo- 
lution, no  man  sought  or  wished  for  more  than  to  defend  and 
enjoy  his  own.  None  hoped  for  plunder  or  for  spoil.  Ra- 
pacity was  unknown  to  it ;  the  axe  was  not  among  the  in- 
struments of  its  accomplishment  ;  and  we  all  know  that  it 
could  not  have  lived  a  single  day  under  any  well  founded  im- 
putation of  possessing  a  tendency  adverse  to  the  Christian 
religion. 

It  need  not  surprise  us,  that,  under  circumstances  less  aus- 
picious, political  revolutions  elsewhere,  even  when  well  in- 
tended, have  terminated  differently.  It  is,  indeed,  a  great 
achievement,  it  is  the  master  work  of  the  v/orld,  to  establish 
governments  entirely  popular,  on  lasting  foundations  ;  nor 
is  it  easy,  indeed,  to  introduce  the  popular  principle  at  all, 
into  governments  to  which  it  has  been  altogether  a  stranger. 
It  cannot  be  doubted,  however,  that  Europe  has  come  out  of 
the  contest,  in  which  she  has  been  so  long  engaged,  with 
greatly  superior  knowledge,  and,  in  many  respects,  a  highly 
improved  condition.  Whatever  benefit  has  been  acquired, 
is  likely  to  be  retained,  for  it  consists  mainly  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  more  enlightened  ideas.  And  although  kingdoms  and 
provinces  may  be  wrested  from  the  hands  that  hold  them,  in 
the  same  manner  they  were  obtained  ;  although  ordinary 
and  vulgar  power  may,  in  human  affairs,  be  lost  as  it  has 
been  won  ;  yet  it  is  the  glorious  prerogative  of  the  empire 
of  knowledge,  that  what  it  gains  it  never  loses.  On  the 
contrary  it  increases  by  the  multiple  of  its  own  power  ;  all 
its  ends  become  means ;  all  its  attainments,  helps  to  new 
conquests.  Its  whole  abundant  harvest  is  but  so  much  seed 
wheat,  and  nothing  has  ascertained,  and  nothing  can  ascer- 
tain, the  amount  of  ultimate  product. 

Under  the  influence  of  this  rapidly  increasing  knowledge, 
the  people  have  begun,  in  all  forms  of  government,  to  think 
and  to  reason,  on  affairs  of  state.  Regarding  government  as 
an  institution  for  the  public  good,  they  demand  a  knowledge 


82  Webster's  address, 

of  its  operations,  and  a  participation  in  its  exercise.  A  call 
for  the  representative  system,  wherever  it  is  not  enjoyed, 
and  where  there  is  already  intelligence  enough  to  estimate 
its  value,  is  perseveringly  made.  Where  men  may  speak 
out,  they  demand  it ;  where  the  bayonet  is  at  their  throats, 
they  pray  for  it. 

When  Louis  XIV.  said,  "  I  am  the  state,"  he  expressed 
the  essence  of  the  doctrine  of  unlimited  power.  By  the  rules 
of  that  system,  the  people  are  disconnected  from  the  state  ; 
they  are  its  subjects  ;  it  is  their  lord.  These  ideas,  founded 
in  the  love  of  power,  and  long  supported  by  the  excess  and 
the  abuse  of  it,  are  yielding,  in  our  age,  to  other  opinions  ; 
and  the  civilized  world  seems  at  last  to  be  proceeding  to  the 
conviction  of  that  fundamental  and  manifest  truth,  that  the 
powers  of  government  are  but  a  trust,  and  that  they  cannot 
be  lawfully  exercised  but  for  the  good  of  the  community. 
As  knowledge  is  more  and  more  extended,  this  conviction 
becomes  more  and  more  general.  Knowledge,  in  truth,  is 
the  great  sun  in  the  firmament.  Life  and  power  are  scatter- 
ed with  all  its  beams.  The  prayer  of  the  Grecian  combat- 
ant, when  enveloped  in  unnatural  clouds  and  darkness,  is  the 
appropriate  political  supplication  for  the  people  of  every 
country  not  yet  blessed  with  free  institutions  ; 

'Dispel  this  cloud,  the  light  of  heaven  restore, 
Give  me  to  see — and  Ajax  asks  no  more.' 

We  may  hope,  that  the  growing  influence  of  enlightened 
sentiments  will  promote  the  permanent  peace  of  the  world. 
Wars,  to  maintain  family  alliances,  to  uphold  or  to  cast 
down  dynasties,  to  regulate  successions  to  thrones,  which 
have  occupied  so  much  room  in  the  history  of  modern  times, 
if  not  less  likely  to  happen  at  all,  will  be  less  likely  to  be- 
come  general  and  involve  many  nations,  as  the  great  prin- 
ciples shall  be  more  and  more  established,  that  the  interest 
of  the  world  is  peace,  and  its  first  great  statute,  that  every 


AT   BUNKER   IIILL.  83 

nation  possesses  the  power  of  establishing  a  government  for 
itself.  But  public  opinion  has  attained  also  an  influence 
over  governments,  which  do  not  admit  the  popular  principle 
into  their  organization.  A  necessary  respect  for  the  judg- 
ment  of  the  world  operates,  in  some  measure,  as  a  control 
over  the  most  unlimited  forms  of  authority.  It  is  owing, 
perhaps,  to  this  truth,  that  the  interesting  struggle  of  the 
Greeks  has  been  suffered  to  go  on  so  long,  without  a  direct 
interference,  either  to  wrest  that  country  from  its  present 
masters,  and  add  it  to  other  powers,  or  to  execute  the  sys- 
tem of  pacification  by  force,  and  with  united  strength,  lay 
the  neck  of  christian  and  civilized  Greece  at  the  foot  of  the 
barbarian  Turk.  Let  us  thank  God  that  we  live  in  an  age, 
when  something  has  influence  besides  the  bayonet,  and 
when  the  sternest  authority  does  not  venture  to  encounter 
the  scorching  power  of  public  reproach.  Any  attempt  of 
the  kind  I  have  mentioned,  should  be  met  by  one  universal 
burst  of  indignation  ;  the  air  of  the  civilized  world  ought  to 
be  made  too  warm  to  be  comfortably  breathed  by  any  who 
would  hazard  it. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  touching  reflection,  that  while,  in  the  ful- 
ness  of  our  countr)''s  happiness,  we  rear  this  monument  to 
her  honor,  we  look  for  instruction,  in  our  undertaking,  to  a 
country  which  is  now  in  fearful  contest,  not  for  works  of 
art  or  memorials  of  glory,  but  for  her  own  existence.  Let 
her  be  assured,  that  she  is  not  forgotten  in  the  world  ;  that 
her  efforts  are  applauded,  and  that  constant  prayers  ascend 
for  her  success.  And  let  us  cherish  a  confident  hope  for  her 
final  triumph.  If  the  true  spark  of  religious  and  civil  liber- 
ty be  kindled,  it  will  burn.  Human  agency  cannot  extin- 
guish it.  Like  the  earth's  central  fire  it  may  be  smothered 
for  a  time ;  the  ocean  may  overwhelm  it ;  mountains  may 
press  it  down ;  but  its  inherent  and  unconquerable  force 
will  heave  both  the  ocean  and  the  land,  and  at  some  time  or 
another,  in  some  place  or  another,  the  volcano  will  break  out 
and  flame  up  to  heaven. 


84  wrbstee's  address, 

Among  the  great  events  of  the  half  century,  we  must 
reckon,  certainly,  the  revolution  of  South  America ;  and  we 
are  not  likely  to  overrate  the  importance  of  that  revolution, 
either  to  the  people  of  the  country  itself  or  to  the  rest  of 
the  world.  The  late  Spanish  colonies,  now  independent 
States,  under  circumstances  less  favorable,  doubtless,  than 
attended  our  own  revolution,  have  yet  successfully  commen- 
ced their  national  existence.  They  have  accomplished  the 
great  object  of  establishing  their  independence  ;  they  are 
known  and  acknowledged  in  the  world;  and  although  in 
regard  to  their  systems  of  government,  their  sentiments  on 
reUgious  toleration,  and  their  provisions  for  public  instruc- 
tion, they  may  have  yet  much  to  learn,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  they  have  risen  to  the  condition  of  settled  and  estab- 
lished states,  more  rapidly  than  could  have  been  reasonably 
anticipated.  They  already  furnish  an  exhilirating  exam- 
ple of  the  difference  between  free  governments  and  despotic 
misrule.  Their  commerce,  at  this  moment,  creates  a  new 
activity  in  all  the  great  marts  of  the  world.  They  show 
themselves  able,  by  an  exchange  of  commodities,  to  bear  a 
useful  part  in  the  intercourse  of  nations.  A  new  spirit  of 
enterprize  and  industry  begins  to  prevail ;  all  the  great  in- 
terests of  society  receive  a  salutary  impulse  ;  and  the  pro- 
gress of  information  not  only  testifies  to  an  improved  con- 
dition, but  constitutes,  itself,  the  highest  and  most  essential 
improvement. 

When  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  fought,  the  existence 
of  South  America  was  scarcely  felt  in  the  civilized  world. 
The  thirteen  little  colonies  of  North  America  habitually 
called  themselves  the  'Continent.'  Borne  down  by  colonial 
subjugation,  monopoly,  and  bigotry,  these  vast  regions  of 
the  South  were  hardly  visible  above  the  horizon.  But  in 
our  day  there  hath  been,  as  it  were,  a  new  creation.  The 
Southern  Hemisphere  emerges  from  the  sea.  Its  lofty 
mountains  begin  to  lift  themselves  into  the  light  of  heaven  ; 
its  broad  and  fertile  plains  stretch  out,  in  beauty,  to  the  eye 


AT    BUXKER  HILL.  85 

©f  civilized  man,  and  at  the  mighty  being  of  the  voice  of  po- 
litical liberty  the  waters  of  darkness  retire. 

And,  now,  let  us  indulge  an  honest  exultation  in  the  con- 
viction of  the  benefit,  which  the  example  of  our  country 
has  produced,  and  is  likely  to  produce,  on  human  freedom 
and  human  happiness.  And  let  us  endeavor  to  comprehend, 
in  all  its  magnitude,  and  to  feel,  in  all  its  importance,  the 
part  assigned  to  us  in  the  great  drama  of  human  affaii's. 
We  are  placed  at  the  head  of  the  system  of  representative 
and  popular  governments.  Thus  far  our  example  shows, 
that  such  governments  are  compatible,  not  only  with  respec- 
tability  and  power,  but  with  repose,  with  peace,  with  secu- 
rity of  personal  rights,  with  good  laws  and  a  just  adminis- 
tration. 

We  are  not  propagandists.  Wherever  other  systems  are 
preferred,  either  as  being  thought  better  in  themselves,  or 
as  better  suited  to  existing  condition,  we  leave  the  preference 
to  be  enjoyed.  Our  history  hitherto  proves,  however,  that 
the  popular  form  is  practicable,  and  that  with  wisdom  and 
knowledge  men  may  govern  themselves  ;  and  the  duty  in- 
cumbent on  us  is,  to  preserve  the  consistency  of  this  cheer- 
ing example,  and  take  care  that  nothing  may  weaken  its 
authority  with  the  world.  If,  in  our  case,  the  Representa- 
tive system  ultimately  fail,  popular  governments  must  bo 
pronounced  impossible.  No  combination  of  circumstances 
more  favorable  to  the  experiment  can  ever  be  expected  to 
occur.  The  last  hopes  of  mankind,  therefore,  rest  with  us  ; 
and  if  it  should  be  proclaimed,  that  our  example  had  become 
an  argument  against  the  experiment,  the  knell  of  popular 
liberty  would  be  sounded  throughout  the  earth. 

These  are  excitements  to  duty ;  but  they  are  not  suo-. 
gestions  of  doubt.  Our  history  and  our  condition,  all  that 
is  gone  before  us,  and  all  that  surrounds  us,  authorize  the 
belief,  that  popular  governments,  though  subject  to  occasion, 
al  variations,  perhaps  not  always  for  the   better,  in  form, 

Aiay  yet,  in  their  general  character,  be  as  durable  and  per- 

8 


86  WEBgXER's   ADDRESS. 

manent  as  other  systems.  We  know,  indeed,  that,  in  our 
country,  any  other  is  impossible.  The  Principle  of  Free  Go- 
vernments  adheres  to  the  American  soil.  It  is  bedded  in  it ; 
immoveable  as  its  mountains. 

And  let  the  sacred  obligations  which  have  devolved  on 
this  generation,  and  on  us,  sink  deep  into  our  hearts.  Those 
are  daily  dropping  from  among  us,  who  established  our  li- 
berty and  our  government.     The  great  trust  now  descends 
to  new  hands.     Let  us  apply  ourselves  to  that  which  is  pre- 
sented to  us,  as  our  appropriate  object.     We  can  win  no  lau- 
rels in  a  war  for  independence.     Earlier  and  worthier  hands 
have  gathered  them  all.     Nor  are  there  places  for  us  by  the 
side  of  Solon,  and  Alfred,  and  other  founders  of  states.    Our 
fathers  have  filled  them.     But  there  remains  to  us  a  great 
duty  of  defence  and  preservation  ;  and  there  is  opened  to 
us,  also,  a  noble  pursuit,  to  which  the  spirit  of  the  times 
strongly  invites  us.     Our  proper  business  is  improvement. 
Let  our  age  be  the  age  of  improvement.     In  a  day  of  peace, 
let  us  advance  the  arts  of  peace  and  the  works  of  peace. 
Let  us  develope  the  resources  of  our  land,  call  forth  its  pow- 
ers, build  up  its  institutions,  promote  all  its  great  interests, 
and  see  whether  we  also,  in  our  day  and  generation,  may 
not  perform  something  worthy  to  be  remembered.     Let  us 
cultivate  a  true  spirit  of  union  and  harmony.     In  pursuing 
the  great  objects,  which  our  condition  points  out  to  us,  let 
us  act  under  a  settled  conviction,  and  an  habitual  feeling, 
that  these  twenty. four  states  are  one  country.      Let  our 
conceptions  be  enlarged  to  the  circle  of  our  duties.     Let  us 
extend  our  ideas  over  the  whole  of  the  vast  field  in  which 
we  are  called  to  act.     Let  our  object  be,  our  country,  our 
whole  country,  and  nothing  but  our  country.     And,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  may  that  country  itself  become  a  vast  and 
splendid  Monument,  not  of  oppression  and  terror,  but   of 
Wisdom,  of  Peace,  and  of  Liberty,  upon  which  the  world 
may  gaze,  with  admiration,  forever. 


AN  ORATION, 

DELIVERED  AT  BOSTON,  MARCH  6,  1775. 

BY  JOSEPH  WARREN. 

My  evek  hoxored  fellow-citizexs, 

It  is  not  without  the  most  humiliating  conviction  of  my 
want  of  abiUty,  that  I  now  appear  before  }'ou :  but  the 
sense  I  have  of  the  obUgation  I  am  under  to  obey  the  calls 
of  my  country  at  all  times,  together  with  an  animating  re- 
collection of  your  indulgence,  exhibited  upon  so  many  occa- 
sions, has  induced  me,  once  more,  undeserving  as  I  am,  to 
throw  myself  upon  that  candor,  which  looks  with  kindness 
on  the  feeblest  efforts  of  an  honest  mind. 

You  will  not  now  expect  the  elegance,  the  learning,  the 
fire,  the  enraptured  strains  of  eloquence,  which  charmed 
you  when  a  Lovell,  a  Church,  or  a  Hancock  spake  ;  but 
you  will  permit  me  to  say,  that  with  a  sincerity  equal  to 
theirs,  I  mourn  over  my  bleeding  country.  With  them  I 
weep  at  her  distress,  and  with  them  deeply  resent  the  many 
injuries  she  has  received  fi-om  the  hands  of  cruel  and  un- 
reasonable men. 

That  personal  freedom  is  the  natural  right  of  every  man, 
and  that  property,  or  an  exclusive  right  to  dispose  of  what 
he  has  honestly  acquired  by  his  own  labor,  necessarily  arises 
therefrom,  are  truths  which  common  sense  has  placed  be- 
yond the  reach  of  contradiction.  And  no  man  or  body  of 
men  can,  without  being  guilty  of  flagrant  injustice,  claim  a 
right  to  dispose  of  the  persons  or  acquisitions  of  any  other 
man,  or  body  of  men,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that  such  a 


8^8  warren's    ORATIOJTy 

rio-ht  has  arisen  from  some  compact  between  the  parties^  in 
which  it  has  been  explicitly  and  freely  granted. 

If  I  may  be  indulged  in  taking  a  retrospective  view  of  the 
first  settlement  of  our  country,  it  will  be  easy  to  determine 
with  what  degree  of  justice  the  late  parliament  of  Great 
Britain  have  assumed  the  power  of  giving  away  that  pro- 
perty, which  the  Americans  have  earned  by  their  labor. 

Our  fathers,  having  nobly  resolved  never  to  wear  the  yoke 
of  despotism,  and  seeing  the  European  world,  at  that  time, 
through  indolence  and  cowardice,  falling  a  prey  to  tyranny, 
bravely  threw  themselves  upon  the  ocean,  determined  to 
find  a  place  in  which  they  might  enjoy  their  freedom,  or 
perish  in  the  glorious  attempt.  Approving  heaven  beheld 
the  favorite  ark  dancing  upon  the  waves,  and  graciously 
preserved  it  until  the  chosen  families  were  brought  in  safety 
to  these  western  regions.  They  found  the  land  swarming 
with  savages,  who  threatened  death  with  every  kind  of  tor- 
ture. But  savages,  and  death  with  torture,  were  far  less 
terrible  than  slavery.  Nothing  was  so  much  the  object  of 
their  abhorrence  as  a  tyrant's  power.  They  knew  that  it 
was  more  safe  to  dwell  with  man,  in  his  most  unpolished 
state,  than  in  a  country  where  arbitrary  power  prevails. 
Even  anarchy  itself,  that  bugbear  held  up  by  the  tools  of 
power,  (though  truly  to  be  deprecated,)  is  infinitely  less 
dano-erous  to  mankind  than  arbitrary  government.  Anar- 
chy can  be  but  of  a  short  duration  ;  for,  when  men  are  at 
Uberty  to  pursue  that  course  which  is  more  conducive  to 
their  own  happiness,  they  will  soon  come  into  it ;  and  from 
the  rudest  state  of  nature,  order  and  good  government  must 
soon  arise.  But  tyi'anny,  when  once  established,  entails  its 
curses  on  a  nation  to  the  latest  period  of  time  ;  unless  some 
daring  genius,  inspired  by  heaven,  shall,  unappalled  by  dan- 
ger, bravely  form  and  execute  the  arduous  design  of  restor- 
ing liberty  and  life  to  his  enslaved,  murdered  country. 

The  tools  of  power,  in  every  age,  have  racked  their  in- 
ventions to  justify  the  few  in  sporting  with  the  happiness  of 


AT   BOSTON.  89 

the  many  ;  and,  having  found  their  sophistry  too  weak  to 
hold  mankind  in  bondage,  have  impiously  dared  to  force  re- 
ligion, the  daughter  of  the  King  of  heaven,  to  become  a 
prostitute  in  the  service  of  hell.  They  taught,  that  prin 
ces,  honored  with  the  name  of  christian,  might  bid  defiance 
to  the  founder  of  their  faith,  might  pillage  pagan  coun- 
tries and  deluge  them  with  blood,  only  because  they  boasted 
themselves  to  be  the  disciples  of  that  teacher,  who  strictly 
charged  his  followers  to  do  to  others  as  they  would  that 
others  should  do  unto  them. 

This  country  having  been  discovered  by  an  English  sub- 
ject, in  the  year  1620,  was  (according  to  the  system 
which  the  blind  superstition  of  those  times  supported,)  deem- 
ed the  property  of  the  crown  of  England.  Our  ancestors, 
when  they  resolved  to  quit  their  native  soil,  obtained  from 
king  James,  a  grant  of  certain  lands  in  North  America. 
This  they  probably  did  to  silence  the  cavils  of  their  enemies, 
for  it  cannot  be  doubted,  but  they  despised  the  pretend. 
ed  right  which  he  claimed  thereto.  Certain  it  is,  that  he 
might,  with  equal  propriety  and  justice,  have  made  them  a 
grant  of  the  planet  Jupiter.  And  their  subsequent  conduct 
plainly  shows,  that  they  were  too  well  acquainted  with  hu- 
manity, and  the  principles  of  natural  equity,  to  suppose, 
that  the  grant  gave  them  any  right  to  take  possession  ;  they, 
therefore,  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  natives,  and  bought 
from  them  the  lands.  Nor  have  I  ever  yet  obtained  any  in- 
formation,  that  our  ancestors  ever  pleaded,  or  that  the  na- 
tives  ever  regarded  the  grant  from  the  English  crown  :  the 
business  was  transacted  by  the  parties  in  the  same  indepen. 
dent  manner,  that  it  would  have  been,  had  neither  of  them 
ever  known  or  heard  of  the  island  of  Great  Britain. 

Having  become  the  honest  proprietors  of  the  soil,  they  im- 
mediately appUed  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  it ;  and 
they  soon  beheld  the  virgin  earth  teeming  with  richest  fruits, 
a  grateful  recompense  for  their  unwearied  toil.     The  fields 

began  to  wave  with  ripening  harvests,  and  the  late  barren 

8  * 


90  warren's  oraxiok", 

wilderness  was  seen  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  savage 
natives  saw,  with  wonder,  the  dehghtful  change,  and  quick- 
ly  formed  a  scheme  to  obtain  that  by  fraud  or  force,  which 
nature  meant  as  the  reward  of  industry  alone.  But  the  il- 
lustrious emigrants  soon  convinced  the  rude  invaders,  that 
they  were  not  less  ready  to  take  the  field  for  battle  than  for 
labor  ;  and  the  insidious  foe  was  driven  from  their  borders 
as  often  as  he  ventured  to  disturb  them.  The  crown  of 
England  looked  with  indifference  on  the  contest  ;  our  an- 
cestors were  left  alone  to  combat  with  the  natives. 
Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe,  that  it  ever  was  intended 
by  the  one  party,  or  expected  by  the  other,  that  the  grantor 
should  defend  and  maintain  the  grantees  in  the  peaceable 
possession  of  the  lands  named  in  the  patents.  And  it  ap- 
pears plainly,  from  the  history  of  those  times,  that  neither 
the  prince  nor  the  people  of  England,  thought  themselves 
much  interested  in  the  matter.  They  had  not  then  any 
idea  of  a  tlwusandth  part  of  those  advantages,  which  they 
since  have,  and  we  are  most  heartily  willing  they  should  still 
continue  to  reap  from  us. 

But  when,  at  an  infinite  expense  of  toil  and  blood,  this 
widely  extended  continent  had  been  cuhivated  and  defend- 
ed ;  when  the  hardy  adventurers  justly  expected,  that  they 
and  their  descendants  should  peaceably  have  enjoyed  the  har- 
vest of  those  fields  which  they  had  sown,  and  the  fruit  of 
those  vineyards  which  they  had  planted,  this  country  was 
then  thought  worthy  the  attention  of  the  British  ministry  ; 
and  the  only  justifiable  and  only  successful  means  of  ren- 
dering the  colonies  serviceable  to  Britain,  were  adopted.  By 
an  intei'course  of  friendly  offices,  the  two  countries  became 
so  united  in  affection,  tliat  they  thought  not  of  any  distinct 
or  separate  interests,^  they  found  both  countries  flourishing 
and  happy.  Britain  saw  her  commerce  extended,  and  her 
wealth  increased ;  her  lands  raised  to  an  immense  value  ; 
her  fleets  riding  triumphant  on  the  ocean;  the  terror  of  her 
arms  spreading  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe.     The  colonist 


AT   BOSTON.  91 

found   himself  free,  and  thought  himself  secure :  he   dwelt 
under  his  own   vine,    and  under  his  own  fig-tree,  and  had 
none  to  make  him  afraid.     He  knew,  indeed,   that  by  pur- 
chasing the  manuflictures  of  Great  Britain,   he  contributed 
to  its  greatness  :  he  knew,  that  all  the  wealth  that  his  labor 
produced,  centered  in  Great  Britain.     But  that,  far  from  ex- 
citing his  envy,  filled  him  with  the  highest  pleasure  ;    that 
thought  supported  him  in  all  his  toils.     When  the  business 
of  the  day  was  past,   he  solaced  himself  with  the  contempla- 
tion, or  perhaps  entertained  his  listening  family  with  the  re- 
cital of  some  great,  some  glorious  transaction,  which  shines 
conspicuously  in  the  history  of  Britain  :  or,  perhaps,  his  ele- 
vated fancy  led  him  to  foretel,  with  a  kind  of  enthusiastic 
confidence,  the  glory,  power  and  duration  of  an  empire  which 
should  extend  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other.     He 
saw,  or  thought  he  saw,  the  British  nation  risen    to  a  pitch 
of    grandeur,   which  cast  a  veil  over   the   Roman  glory, 
and,  ravished  with  the  preview,  boasted  a  race  of  British 
kings,    whose   names    should    echo  through    those    realms 
where  Cyrus,    Alexander,  and    the  Caesars  were  unknown  ; 
princes,  for  whom    millions    of  grateful  subjects  redeemed 
from  slavery  and  pagan  ignorance,    should,  with  thankful 
tongues,  offer  up  their  prayers  and  praises  to  that  transcen- 
dently  great  and  beneficent  being,  "  by   whom  kings   reign 
and  princes  decree  justice." 

These  pleasing  connexions  might  have  continued  ;  these 
delightsome  prospects  might  have  been  every  day  extended  ; 
and  even  the  reveries  of  the  most  warm  imagination  might 
have  been  realized  ;  but,  unhappily  for  us,  unhappily  for 
Britain,  the  madness  of  an  avaricious  minister  ot  state,  has 
drawn  a  sable  curtain  over  the  charming  scene,  and  in  its 
stead  has  brought  upon  the  stage,  discord,  envy,  hatred  and 
revenge,  with  civil  war  close  in  their  rear. 

Some  demon,  in  an  evil  hour,  suggested  to  a  short-sighted 
financier  the  hateful  project  of  transferring  the  whole  pro- 
I>erty  of  the  king's  subjects  in  America,  to  his  subjects  in  Brit- 


92  .       warren's  oration, 

ain.  The  claim  of  the  British  parhament  to  tax  the  coloniesj 
can  never  be  supported  by  such  a  transfer ;  for  the  right  of  the 
house  of  commons  of  Great  Britain,  to  originate  any  tax  or 
grant  money,  is  altogether  derived  from  their  being  elected 
by  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to  act  for  them;  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Great  Britain  cannot  confer  on  their  representatives  a 
right  to  give  or  grant  any  thing  which  they  themselves  have 
not  a  right  to  give  or  grant  personally.  Therefore,  it  follows, 
that  if  the  members  chosen  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  to 
represent  them  in  parliament,  have,  by  virtue  of  their  being  so 
chosen,  any  right  to  give  or  grant  American  property,  or  to 
lay  any  tax  upon  the  lands  or  persons  of  the  colonists,it  is  be- 
cause the  lands  and  people  in  the  colonies  aYe,bonaJide,  owned 
by,  and  justly  belonging  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  But, 
(as  has  been  before  observed,)  every  man  has  a  right  to  per- 
sonal freedom ;  consequently  a  right  to  enjoy  what  is  ac- 
quired by  his  own  labor.  And  it  is  evident,  that  the  proper- 
ty in  this  country  has  been  acquired  by  our  own  labor  ;  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  to  produce  some  com- 
pact in  which  we  have  explicitly  given  up  to  them  a  right  to 
dispose  of  our  persons  or  property.  Until  this  is  done,  eve- 
ry attempt  of  theirs,  or  of  those  whom  they  have  deputed  to 
act  for  them,  to  give  or  grant  any  part  of  our  property,  is 
directly  repugnant  to  every  principle  of  reason  and  natui-al 
justice.  But  I  may  boldly  say,  that  such  a  compact  never 
existed,  no,  not  even  in  imagination.  Nevertheless,  the  re- 
presentatives of  a  nation,  long  famed  for  justice  and  the 
exercise  of  every  noble  virtue,  have  been  prevailed  on  to 
adopt  the  fatal  scheme  ;  and  although  the  dreadful  conse- 
quences of  this  wicked  policy  have  already  shaken  the  em- 
pire  to  its  centre,  yet  still  it  is  persisted  in.  Regardless  of 
the  voice  of  reason  ;  deaf  to  the  prayers  and  supplications  ; 
and  unaffected  with  the  flowing  tears  of  suffering  millions, 
the  British  ministry  still  hug  the  darling  idol ;  and  every 
rolling  year  affords  fresh  instances  of  the  absurd  devotion 
with  which  they  worship  it.     Alas  !  how  has  the  folly,  the 


AT    BOSTON'.  93 

distraction  of  ihe  British  councils,  blasted  our  swelling  hopes, 
and  spread  a  gloom  over  this  Avestern  hemisphere. 

The  hearts  of  Britons  and  Americans,  which  lately  felt  the 
generous  glow  of  mutual  confidence  and  love,  now  burn  with 
jealousy  and  rage.  Though  but  of  yesterday,  I  recollect 
(deeply  affected  at  the  ill-boding  change,)  the  happy  hours 
that  passed  whilst  Britain  and  America  rejoiced  in  the 
prosperity  and  greatness  of  each  other.  Heaven  grant  those 
halcyon  days  may  soon  return  !  But  now  the  Briton  too 
often  looks  on  the  American  with  an  envious  eye,  taught  to 
consider  his  just  plea  for  the  enjoyment  of  his  earnings,  as 
the  effect  of  pride  and  stubborn  opposition  to  the  parent 
country.  Whilst  the  American  beholds  the  Briton,  as  the 
ruffian,  ready  first  to  take  away  his  property,  and  next,  what 
is  still  dearer  to  every  virtuous  man,  the  liberty  of  his  coun- 
try. 

When  the  measures  of  administration  had  disgusted  the 
colonies  to  the  highest  degree,  and  the  people  of  Great 
Britain  had,  by  artifice  and  falsehood,  been  irritated  against 
America,  an  army  was  sent  over  to  enforce  submission  to 
certain  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  which  reason  scorned 
to  countenance,  and  which  placemen  and  pensioners  were 
found  unable  to  support. 

Martial  law,  and  the  government  of  a  well  regulated  city, 
are  so  entirely  different,  that  it  has  always  been  considered 
as  improper  to  quarter  troops  in  populous  cities  ;  frequent 
disputes  must  necessarily  arise  between  the  citizen  and  the 
soldier,  even  if  no  previous  animosities  subsist.  And  it  is 
further  certain,  from  a  consideration  of  the  nature  of  man- 
kind, as  well  as  from  constant  experience,  that  standing 
armies  always  endanger  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  But 
when  the  people,  on  the  one  part,  considered  the  army  as 
sent  to  enslave  them,  and  the  army,  on  the  other,  were 
taught  to  look  on  the  people  as  in  a  state  of  rebcUion,  it  was 
but  just  to  fear  the  most  disagreeable  consequences.  Our 
fears,  we  have  seen,  were  but  too  well  grounded. 


94  wakren's  okation, 

The  many  injuries  offered  to  the  town,  I  pass  over  in  si- 
lence, I  cannot  now  mark  out  the  path  which  led  to  that 
unequalled  scene  of  horror,  the  sad  remembrance  of  which 
takes  the  full  possession  of  my  soul.  The  sanguinary  thea- 
tre again  opens  itself  to  view.  The  baleful  images  of  terror 
crowd  around  me  ;  and  discontented  ghosts,  with  hollow 
groans,  appear  to  solemnize  the  anniversary  of  the  fifth  of 
March. 

Approach  we  then  the  melancholy  walk  of  death.     Hither 
let  me  call  the  gay  companion  ;  here  let  me  drop  a  farewell 
tear  upon  that  body  which  so  late  he  saw  vigorous  and  warm 
with  social  mirth  ;  hither  let  me  lead  the  tender  mother  to 
weep  over  her  beloved  son — come  widowed  mourner,   here 
satiate  thy  grief;  behold  thy  murdered  husband  gasping  on 
the  ground,  and  to  complete  the  pompous  show  of  wretched- 
ness, bring  in  each  hand  thy  infant  children  to  bewail  their 
father's  fate — take  heed,  ye  orphan  babes,  lest,  whilst  your 
streaming  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the  ghastly  corpse,  your  feet 
slide  on  the  stones  bespattered  with  your  father's  brains ! 
Enough  ;  this  tragedy  need  not  be  heightened  by  an  infant 
weltering  in  the  blood  of  him  that  gave  it  birth.     Nature  re- 
luctant, shrinks  already  from  the  view,  and  the  chilled  blood 
rolls  slowly  backward  to  its  fountain.    We  wildly  stare  about, 
and  with  amazement  ask,  who  spread  this  ruin  about  us  ? 
What  wretch  has  dared  deface  the  image  of  his  God  ?     Has 
haughty  France  or  cruel  Spain,  sent  forth  her  myrmidons  ? 
Has  the  grim  savage  rushed  again  from  the  far  distant  wil- 
derness ;    or  does  some  fiend,  fierce  from  the  depth  of  hell, 
with  all  the  rancorous  malice  which  the  apostate  damned  can 
feel,  twang  her  destructive  bow,  and  hurl  her  deadly  arrows 
at  our  breast?     No,   none  of  these — but,  how  astonishing! 
it  is  the  hand  of  Britdin  tliat  inflicts  the  wound!     The  arms 
of  George,  our  rightful  king,  have  been  employed  to  shed 
that  blood,  when  justice,  or  the  honor  of  his  crown,  had 
called  his  subjects  to  the  field. 

But  pity,  grief,  astonishment,  with  all  the  softer  move- 


AT    BOSTON.  95 

merits  of  the  soul,  must  now  give  way  to  stronger  passions. 
Say,  fellow-citizens,  what  dreadful  thought  now  swells  your 
heaving  bosoms ;  you  fly  to  arms — sharp  indignation  flashes 
from  each  eye — revenge  gnashes  her  iron  teeth — death  grins 
a  hideous  smile,  secure  to  drench  his  greedy  jaws  in  human 
gore — whilst  hovering  furies  darken  all  the  air  ! 

But  stop,  my  bold  adventurous  countrymen ;  stain  not 
your  weapons  with  the  blood  of  Britons.  Attend  to  rea- 
son's voice  ;  humanity  puts  in  her  claim,  and  sues  to  be 
again  admitted  to  her  wonted  seat,  the  bosom  of  the  brave. 
Revenge  is  far  beneath  the  noble  mind.  Many,  perhaps, 
compelled  to  rank  among  the  vile  assassins,  do  from  their  in- 
most souls,  detest  the  barbarous  action.  The  winged  death, 
shot  from  your  arms,  may  chance  to  pierce  some  breast  that" 
bleeds  already  for  your  injured  country. 

The  storm  subsides — a  solemn  pause  ensues — you  spare, 
upon  condition  they  depart.  They  go — they  quit  your  city 
— they  no  more  shall  give  offence.  Thus  closes  the  impor- 
tant drama. 

And  could  it  have  been  conceived  that  we  again  should 
have  seen  a  British  army  in  our  land,  sent  to  enforce  obe- 
dience   to   acts  of  parliament  destructive  of  our   liberty  ? 
But  the  royal  ear,  far  distant  from  this  western  world,  has 
been  assaulted  by  the  tongue  of  slander;  and  villains,  traito- 
rous alike  to  king  and  country,  have  prevailed  upon  a  gra- 
cious prince  to  clothe  his   countenance  with  wrath,  and  to 
erect  the  hostile  banner  against  a  people  ever  affectionate 
and  loyal  to  him  and  his  illustrious  predecessors  of  the 
House  of  Hanover.     Our  streets  are  again  filled  with  armed 
men  ;  our  harbor  is  crowded  with  ships  of  war ;  but  these 
cannot  intimidate  us  ;  our  liberty  must  be  preserved  ;  it  is 
far  dearer  than  life,  we  hold  it  even  dear  as  our  allegiance  ; 
we  must  defend  it  against  the   attacks  of  friends  as  well  as 
enemies  ;  we  cannot  suffer  even  Britons  to  ravish  it  from  us. 
No  longer  could  we  reflect  with  generous  pride,  on  the 
heroic  actions  of  our  American  forefathers  ;  no  longer  boast 


96  WAKREN  S    ORATION, 

our  origin  from  that  far-famed  island,  whose  warlike  sons 
have  so  often  drawn  their  well  tried  swords  to  save  her  from 
the  ravages  of  tyranny;  could  we,  but  for  a  moment,  enter- 
tain the  thought  of  giving  up  our  liberty.  The  man  who 
meanly  will  submit  to  wear  a  shackle,  contemns  the  noblest 
gift  of  heaven,  and  impiously  affronts  the  God  that  made 
him  free. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  the   Roman  people,  which  eminently 
conduced  to  the  greatness  of  that  state,  never  to  despair  of 
the  commonwealth.     The  maxim  may  prove  as  salutary  to 
us  now,  as  it  did  to  them.     Short-sighted  mortals  see  not  the 
numerous  links  of  small  and  great  events,  which  form  the 
chain  on  which  the  fate  of  kings  and  nations  is  suspended. 
Ease  and  prosperity,  though  pleasing  for  a  day,  have  often 
sunk  a  people  into  effeminacy  and  sloth.     Hardships   and 
dangers,  though  we  forever  strive  to  shun  them,  have   fre- 
quently called  forth  such  virtues,  as  have   commanded  the 
applause  and  reverence  of  an  admiring  world.     Our  country 
loudly  calls  you  to  be  circumspect,  vigilant,  active  and  brave. 
Perhaps,  (all  gracious  heaven  avert  it,)  perhaps,  the  power 
of  Britain,  a  nation  great  in  war,  by  some  malignant  influ- 
ence, may  be  employed  to  enslave  you  ;  but  let  not  even  this 
discourage  you.     Her  arms,  'tis  true,  have  filled  the  world 
with  terror  ;  her  troops  have  reaped  the  laurels  of  the  field  ; 
her  fleets  have  rode  triumphant  on  the  sea ;   and  when,  or 
where,  did  you,  my  countrymen,  depart  inglorious  from  the 
field  of  fight?     You  too  can  show  the  trophies  of  your  fore- 
fathers' victories  and  your  own  ;  can  name  the  fortresses 
and  battles  you  have  w^on ;  and  many  of  you  count  the  hen- 
orable  scars  of  wounds  received  whilst  fighting  for  your  king 
and  country. 

Where  justice  is  the  standard,  heaven  is  the  warrior's 
shield ;  but  conscious  guilt  unnerves  the  arm  that  lifts  the 
sword  against  the  innocent.  Britain,  united  with  these  co- 
lonies by  commerce  and  affection,  by  interest  and  blood, 
may  mock  the  threats  of  France  and  Spain ;  may  be  the 


AT    BOSTON.  97 

seat  of  universal  empire.  But  should  America,  either  by 
force,  or  those  more  dangerous  engines,  luxury  and  corrup- 
tion, ever  be  brought  into  a  state  of  vassalage,  Britain  must 
lose  her  freedom  also.  No  longer  shall  she  sit  the  empress 
of  the  sea ;  her  ships  nq  more  shall  waft  her  thunders  over 
the  wide  ocean ;  the  wreath  shall  wither  on  her  temples; 
her  weakened  arm  shall  be  unable  to  defend  her  coasts  ;  and 
she  at  last,  must  bow  her  venerable  head  to  some  proud 
foreigner's  despotic  rule. 

But  if,  from  past  events,  we  may  venture  to  form  a  judg, 
ment  of  the  future,  we  justly  may  expect  that  the  devices 
of  our  enemies  will  but  increase  the  triumphs  of  our  country. 
I  must  indulge  a  hope  that  Britain's  liberty,  as  well  as  ours, 
will  eventually  be  preserved  by  the  virtue  of  America. 

The  attempt  of  the  British  parliament  to  raise  a  revenue 
from  America,  and  our  denial  of  their  right  to  do  it,  have 
excited  an  almost  universal  inquiry  into  the  right  of  man- 
kind in  general,  and  of  British  subjects  in  particular  ;  the 
necessary  result  of  which,  must  be  such  a  liberality  of  sen- 
timent, and  such  a  jealousy  of  those  in  power,  as  will,  better 
than  an  adamantine  wall,  secure  us  against  the  future  ap- 
proaches of  despotism. 

The  malice  of  the  Boston  port-bill  has  been  defeated,  in  a 
very  considerable  degree,  by  giving  you  an  opportunity  of 
deserving,  and  our  brethren  in  this  and  our  sister  colonies, 
an  opportunity  of  bestowing  those  benefactions  which  have 
delighted  your  friends  and  astonished  your  enemies,  not  only 
in  America,  but  in  Europe  also.  And  what  is  more  valua- 
ble still,  the  sympathetic  feeUngs  for  a  brother  in  distress, 
and  the  grateful  emotions,  excited  in  the  breast  of  him  who 
finds  relief,  must  forever  endear  each  to  the  other,  and  form 
those  indissoluble  bonds  of  friendship  and  affection,  on 
which  the  preservation  of  our  rights  so  evidently  depend. 

The   mutilation  of  our  charter   has  made  every  other 

colony  jealous  for  its  own  ;  for  this,  if  once  submitted  to  by 

us,  would  set  on  float  the  property  and  government  of  every 

9 


98  warren's  oration, 

British  settlement  upon  the  continent.  If  charters  are  not 
deemed  sacred,  how  miserably  precarious  is  eveiy  thing 
founded  upon  them  ! 

Even  the  sending  troops  to  put  these  acts  in  execution, 
is  not  without  advantage  to  us.  The  exactness  and  beauty 
of  their  discipline  inspire  our  youth  with  ardor  in  the  pursuit 
of  military  knowledge.  Charles  the  invincible,  taught  Peter 
the  great  the  art  of  war.  The  battle  of  Pultowa  convinced 
Charles  of  the  proficiency  Peter  had  made. 

Our  country  is  in  danger,  but  not  to  be  despaired  of.  Our 
enemies  are  numerous  and  powerful ;  but  we  have  many 
friends,  determining  to  be  free,  and  heaven  and  earth  will 
aid  the  resolution.  On  you  depend  the  fortunes  of  America. 
You  are  to  decide  the  important  question,  on  which  rest  the 
happiness  and  liberty  of  millions  yet  unborn.  Act  worthy 
of  yourselves.  The  faltering  tongue  of  hoary  age,  calls  on 
you  to  support  your  country.  The  lisping  infant  raises  its 
suppliant  hands,  imploring  defence  against  the  monster 
slavery.  Your  fathers  look  from  their  celestial  seats  with 
smiling  approbation  on  their  sons,  who  boldly  stand  forth  in 
the  cause  of  virtue ;  but  sternly  frown  upon  the  inhuman 
miscreant,  who,  to  secure  the  loaves  and  fishes  to  himself, 
would  breed  a  serpent  to  destroy  his  children. 

But,  pardon  me,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  know  you  want  not 
zeal  or  fortitude.  You  will  maintain  your  rights,  or  perish 
in  the  generous  struggle.  However  difficult  the  combat,  you 
never  will  decline  it  when  freedom  is  the  prize.  An  inde- 
pendence of  Great  Britain  is  not  our  aim.  No,  our  wish  is, 
that  Britain  and  the  colonies  may,  like  the  oak  and  ivv, 
grow  and  increase  in  strength  together.  But  whilst  the  in- 
fatuated plan  of  making  one  part  of  the  empire  slaves  to  the 
other  is  persisted  in,  the  interest  and  safety  of  Britain,  as 
well  as  the  colonies,  recjuire  that  the  wise  measures,  recom- 
mended by  the  honorable  the  continental  Congress,  be 
steadily  pursued  ;  whereby  the  unnatural  contest  between  a 
parent  honored,  and  a  child  beloved,  may  probably  be  brought 


AT    BOSTOX.  99 

to  such  an  issue,  as  that  the  peace  and  happiness  of  both 
may  be  estabUshed  upon  a  lasting  basis.  But  if  these  pa- 
cific measures  are  ineffectual,  and  it  appears  that  the  only 
way  to  safety  is  through  fields  of  blood,  I  know  you  will  not 
turn  your  faces  from  your  foes,  but  will,  undauntedly,  press 
forward,  until  tyranny  is  trodden  under  foot,  and  you  have 
fixed  your  adored  goddess  liberty,  fast  by  a  Brunswick's  side, 
on  the  American  throne. 

You  then,  who  nobly  have  espoused  your  country's  cause, 
who  generously  have  sacrificed  wealth  and  ease  ;  who  have 
despised  the  pomp  and  show  of  tinselled  greatness ;  refused 
the  summons  to  the  festive  board  ;  been  deaf  to  the  alluring 
calls  of  luxury  and  mirth ;  who  have  forsaken  the  downy 
pillow,  to  keep  your  vigils  by  the  midnight  lamp  for  the  sal- 
vation of  your  invaded  country,  that  you  might  break  the 
fowler's  snare,  and  disappoint  the  vulture  of  his  prey — you 
then  will  reap  that  harvest  of  renown  which  you  so  justly 
have  deserved.  Your  country  shall  pay  her  grateful  tribute 
of  applause.  Even  the  children  of  your  most  inveterate 
enemies,  ashamed  to  tell  from  whom  they  sprang,  while  they, 
in  secret,  curse  their  stupid,  cruel  parents,  shall  join  the 
general  voice  of  gratitude  to  those  who  broke  the  fetters 
which  their  father's  forged. 

Having  redeemed  your  country,  and  secured  the  blessing 
to  future  generations,  who,  fired  by  your  example,  shall  em- 
ulate your  virtues,  and  learn  from  you  the  heavenly  art  of 
making  miUions  happy  ;  with  heart-felt  joy,  with  transports 
all  your  own,  you  cry,  the  glorious  work  is  done  ;  then  drop 
the  mantle  to  some  young  Elisha,  and  take  your  seats  with 
kindred  spirits  in  your  native  skies  ! 


SPEECH^ 

DELIVERED    IN   THE   CONVENTION   OF    DELEGATES    OF 
VIRGINIA,  MARCH  23,  1775. 

BY  PATRICK  HENRY. 

— eiS^^ 

Mr.  President, 

No  man  thinks  more  highly  than  I  do  of  the  patriotism,  as 
well  as  abilities,  of  the  very  worthy  gentlemen  who  have  just 
addressed  the  House.  But  different  men  often  see  the  same 
subject  in  different  lights  ;  and,  therefore,  I  hope  it  will  not 
be  thought  disrespectful  to  those  gentlemen,  if,  entertaining 
as  I  do,  opinions  of  a  character  veiy  opposite  to  theirs,  I 
shall  speak  forth  my  sentiments  freely  and  without  reserve. 
This  is  no  time  for  ceremony.  The  question,  before  the 
House,  is  one  of  awful  moment  to  this  country.  For  my 
own  part,  I  consider  it  as  nothing  less  than  a  question  of 
freedom  or  slavery  :  and  in  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  subject  ought  to  be  the  freedom  of  the  debate.  It  is 
only  in  this  way  that  we  can  hope  to  arrive  at  truth,  and 
fulfil  the  great  responsibility  which  we  hold  to  God  and  our 
country.  Should  I  keep  back  my  opinions  at  such  a  time, 
through  fear  of  giving  offence,  I  should  consider  myself  as 
guilty  of  treason  towards  my  country,  and  of  an  act  of  dis- 
loyalty towards  the  majesty  of  heaven,  which  I  revere  above 
all  earthly  kings. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  natural  to  man  to  indulge  in  the  illu- 
sions of  hope.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  against  a  pain- 
ful truth,  and  listen  to  the  song  of  that  syren,  till  she  trans- 
forms us  into  beasts.     Is  this  the  part  of  wise  men,  engaged 


henry's  speech.  101 

in  a  great  and  arduous  struggle  for  liberty  ?  Are  we  dispo- 
sed to  be  of  the  number  of  those,  who  having  eyes,  see  not, 
and  having  ears,  hear  not,  the  things  which  so  nearly  concern 
their  temporal  salvation  1  For  my  part,  whatever  anguish  of 
spirit  it  may  cost,  I  am  willing  to  know  the  whole  truth  ; 
to  know  the  worst,  and  to  provide  for  it. 

I  have  but  one  lamp  by  which  my  feet  are  guided ;  and 
that  is  the  lamp  of  experience.  I  know  of  no  way  of  judg- 
ing of  the  future  but  by  the  past.  And  judging  by  the  past, 
I  wish  to  know  what  there  is  in  the  conduct  of  the  British 
ministry  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  justify  those  hopes  with 
which  gentlemen  have  been  pleased  to  solace  themselves  and 
the  House  ?  Is  it  that  insidious  smile  with  which  our  peti- 
tion has  been  lately  received  1  Trust  it  not,  sir  ;  it  will 
prove  a  snare  to  your  feet.  Sutler  not  yourselves  to  be  be- 
trayed with  a  kiss.  Ask  yourselves  how  this  gracious  recep- 
tion of  our  petition  comports  with  those  warlike  prepara- 
tions which  cover  our  waters  and  darken  our  land.  Are 
fleets  and  armies  necessary  to  a  work  of  love  and  reconcilia- 
tion ?  Have  we  shown  ourselves  so  unwilling  to  be  recon- 
ciled, that  force  must  be  called  in  to  win  back  our  love  ?  Let 
us  not  deceive  ourselves,  sir.  These  are  the  implements  of 
war  and  subjugation ;  the  last  arguments  to  which  kings 
resort.  I  ask  gentlemen,  sir,  what  means  this  martial  array, 
if  its  purpose  be  not  to  force  us  to  submission  ?  Can  gen- 
tlemen assign  any  other  possible  motive  for  it  ?  Has  Great 
Britain  any  enemy,  in  this  quarter  of  the  world,  to  call  for 
all  this  accumulation  of  navies  and  armies?  No,  sir,  she 
has  none.  They  are  meant  for  us  :  they  can  be  meant  for 
no  other.  They  are  sent  over  to  bind  and  rivet  upon  us 
those  chains,  which  the  British  ministry  have  been  so  long 
forging.  And  what  have  we  to  oppose  to  them  ?  Shall  we  try 
argument  ?  Sir,  we  have  been  trying  that  for  the  last  ten 
years.  Have  we  any  thing  new  to  offer  upon  the  subject  ? 
Nothing.  We  have  held  the  subject  up  in  every  light  of 
which  it  is  capable  ;  but  it  has  been  all  in  vain.     Shall  we 

9*       . 


102  HENRY  S    SPEECH    IN    THE 

resort  to  entreaty  and  humble  supplication?     What  terms 
shall  we  find,  which  have  not  been  already  exhausted  ?     Let 
us  not,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  deceive  ourselves  longer.     Sir, 
we  have  done  every  thing  that  could  be  done,  to  avert  the 
storm  which  is  now  coming  on.     We  have  petitioned  ;  we 
have  remonstrated ;  we  have  supplicated  ;  we  have  pros- 
trated ourselves  before  the  throne,  and   have   implored  its 
interposition  to  arrest  the  tyrannical  hands  of  the  ministry 
and  parliament.     Our  petitions  have  been  slighted  ;  our  re- 
monstrances have  produced  additional  violence  and  insult  ; 
our  supplications  have  been  disregarded  ;  and  we  have  been 
spurned,  with  contempt,  from  the   foot  of  the  throne !     In 
vain,  after  these  things,  may   we  indulge  the  fond  hope  of 
peace  and  reconciliation.     There  is  no  longer  any  room  for 
hope.     If  we  wish  to  be  free — if  we  mean  to  preserve  invio- 
late those  inestimable  privileges  for  which  we  have  been  so 
long  contending — if  wo  mean  not  basely  to  abandon  the 
noble  struggle  in  which  we  have  been  so  long  engaged,  and 
Avhich  we  have  pledged  ourselves   never  to  abandon,  until 
the  glorious  object  of  our  contest  shall  be  obtained — we  must 
fight !    I  repeat  it,  sir,  we  must  fight !     An  appeal  to  arms 
and  to  the  God  of  Hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us  ! 

They  tell  us,  sir,  that  we  are  weak ;  unable  to  cope  with 
so  formidable  an  adversary.  But  when  shall  we  be  stronger  ? 
Will  it  be  the  next  week,  or  the  next  year  ?  Will  it  be 
when  we  are  totally  disarmed,  and  when  a  British  guard 
shall  be  stationed  in  every  house  ?  Shall  we  gather  strength 
by  irresolution  and  inaction?  Shall  we  acquire  the  means 
of  efl^ectual  resistance,  by  lying  supinely  on  our  backs,  and 
hugging  the  delusive  phantom  of  hope,  until  our  enemies 
shall  have  bound  us  hand  and  foot  ?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak, 
if  we  make  a  proper  use  of  those  means  which  the  God  of 
nature  hath  placed  in  our  power.  Three  millions  of  people, 
armed  in  the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  and  in  such  a  country  as 
that  which  we  possess,  are  invincible  by  any  force  which 
our  enemy  can  send  against  us.    Besides,   sir,  we  shall  not 


HOUSE    OF    DELEGATES    OF    VIRGINIA.  103 

fight  our  battles  alone.  There  is  a  just  God  who  presides 
over  the  destinies  of  nations  ;  and  who  will  raise  up  friends 
to  fight  our  battles  for  us.  The  battle,  sir,  is  not  to  the 
strong  alone  ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  and  the  brave. 
Besides,  sir,  we  have  no  election.  If  we  M'ere  base  enough 
to  desire  it,  it  is  now  too  late  to  retire  from  the  contest. 
There  is  no  retreat,  but  in  submission  and  slavery  !  Our 
chains  are  forged  !  Their  clanking  may  be  heard  on  the 
plains  of  Boston  !  The  war  is  inevitable — and  let  it  come  ! 
I  repeat  it,  sir,  let  it  come ! 

It  is  in  vain,  sir  to  extenuate  the  matter.  Gentlemen 
may  cry,  peace,  peace — but  there  is  no  peace.  The  war  is 
actually  begun  !  The  next  gale,  that  sweeps  from  the  north, 
will  bring  to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding  arms  !  Our 
brethren  are  already  in  the  field  !  Why  stand  we  here  idle  ? 
What  is  it  that  gentlemen  wish  ?  What  would  they  have  ? 
Is  life  so  dear,  or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the 
price  of  chains  and  slavery  ?  Forbid  it.  Almighty  God  !  I 
know  not  what  course  others  may  take  ;  but  as  for  me,  give 
me  liberty,  or  give  me  death ! 


EXTRACT   FROM   A  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED    IN    COMMEMORATION    OF   THE   FIRST    SET- 
TLEMENT OF  SALEM. 

BY  JOSEPH  STORY. 

It  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  scoffer,  or  the  skeptic  ;  of 
the  parasite,  who  fawns  on  courts,  or  the  proselyte,  who 
doats  on  the  infalUbiUty  of  his  own  sect,  to  obscure  the  real 
dignity  of  the  character  of  the  Puritans.  We  may  lament 
their  errors  ;  we  may  regret  their  prejudices ;  we  may  pity 
their  infirmities ;  we  may  smile  at  the  stress  laid  by  them 
on  petty  observances,  and  trifling  forms.  We  may  believe, 
that  their  piety  was  mixed  up  with  too  much  gloom  and  se- 
verity  ;  that  it  was  sometimes  darkened  by  superstition,  and 
sometimes  degraded  by  fanaticism ;  that  it  shut  out  too 
much  the  innocent  pleasures  of  life,  and  enforced  too  strictly 
a  discipline,  irksome,  cheerless,  and  oppressive  ;  that  it  was 
sometimes  over  rigid,  when  it  might  have  been  indulgent ; 
stern,  when  it  might  have  been  affectionate  ;  pertinacious, 
when  concession  would  have  been  just,  as  well  as  graceful ; 
and  flashing  with  fiery  zeal,  when  charity  demanded  mode- 
ration, and  ensured  peace.  All  this,  and  much  more,  may 
be  admitted,  for  they  were  but  men,  frail,  fallible  men,  and 
yet  leave  behind  solid  claims  upon  the  reverence  and  admi- 
ration of  mankind.  Of  them  it  may  be  said  with  as  much 
truth,  as  of  any  men,  that  have  ever  lived,  that  they  acted 
up  to  their  principles,  and  followed  them  out  with  an  unfal- 
tering firmness.  They  displayed  at  all  times  a  downright 
honesty  of  heart  and  purpose.  In  simplicity  of  life,  in 
godly  sincerity,  in  temperance,  in  humility,  and  in  patience 


story's    DISC0UH3E.  105 

as  well  as  in  zeal,  they  seemed  to  belong  to  the  apostolical 
age.  Their  wisdom,  while  it  looked  on  this  world,  reached 
far  beyond  it  in  its  aim  and  objects.  They  valued  earthly 
pursuits  no  farther  than  they  were  consistent  with  rehgion. 
Amidst  the  temptations  of  human  grandeur  they  stood  un- 
moved, unshaken,  unscduced.  Their  scruples  of  conscience, 
if  they  sometimes  betrayed  them  into  difficulty,  never  be- 
trayed them  into  voluntary  sin.  They  possessed  a  moral 
courage,  which  looked  present  dangers  in  the  face,  as  though 
they  were  distant  or  doubtful,  seeking  no  escape,  and  indul- 
ging no  terror.  When  in  defence  of  their  faith,  of  what 
they  deemed  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  we  see  them  resign 
their  property,  their  preferments,  their  friends,  and  their 
homes ;  when  we  see  them  submitting  to  banishment,  and 
ignominy,  and  even  to  death ;  when  we  see  them  in  foreign 
lands,  on  inhospitable  shores,  in  the  midst  of  sickness  and 
famine,  in  desolation  and  disaster,  still  true  to  themselves, 
still  confident  in  God's  providence,  still  submissive  to  his 
chastisements,  still  thankful  for  his  blessings,  still  ready  to 
exclaim  in  the  language  of  Scripture — '  We  are  troubled  on 
every  side,  yet  not  distressed ;  we  are  perplexed,  but  not  in 
despair  ;  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken  ;  cast  down,  but  not 
destroyed  ;'  when  we  see  such  things,  where  is  the  man, 
whose  soul  does  not  melt  within  him  at  the  sight  ?  Where 
shall  examples  be  sought  or  found  more  full  to  point  out 
what  Christianity  is,  and  what  it  ought  to  accomplish  ? 

What  better  origin  could  we  desire,  than  from  men  of 
characters  like  these  ?  Men,  to  whom  conscience  was  every 
thing,  and  worldly  prosperity  nothing.  Men,  whose  thoughts 
belonged  to  eternity  rather  than  to  time.  Men,  who  in  the 
near  prospect  of  their  sacrifices,  could  say,  as  our  forefix- 
thers  did  say,  '  When  we  are  in  our  graves,  it  will  be  all 
one,  whether  we  have  lived  in  plenty  or  in  penury  ;  whether 
we  have  died  in  a  bed  of  down,  or  locks  of  straw.  Only 
this  is  the  advantage  of  the  mean  condition,  that  it  is  a 
JHORE  FREEDOJt  TO  DIE.     And  the  Icss  comfort  any  have  in 


106  story's  discourse, 

the  things  of  this  world,  the  more  liberty  they  have  to  lay 
up  treasure  in  heaven.'  Men,  who  in  answer  to  the  objec 
tion,  urged  by  the  anxiety  of  friendship,  that  they  might 
perish  by  the  way,  or  by  hunger  or  the  sword,  could  answer, 
as  our  forefathers  did,  '  We  may  trust  God's  providence  for 
these  things.  Either  he  will  keep  these  evils  from  us ;  or 
will  dispose  them  for  our  good,  and  enable  us  to  bear  them.' 
Men,  who  in  still  later  days,  in  their  appeal  for  protection 
to  the  throne,  could  say  with  pathetic  truth  and  simplicity, 
as  our  forefathers  did,  '  that  we  might  enjoy  divine  worship 
without  human  mixture,  without  offence  to  God,  man,  our 
own  consciences,  with  leave,  but  not  without  tears,  we  de- 
parted from  our  country,  kindred,  and  fathers'  houses  into 
this  Patmos  ;  in  relation  whereunto  we  do  not  say,  our  gar- 
ments are  become  old  by  reason  of  the  very  long  journey, 
but  that  ourselves,  who  came  away  in  our  strength,  are  by 
reason  of  long  absence,  many  of  us  become  greyheaded,  and 
some  of  us  stooping  for  age.' 

If  these  be  not  the  sentiments  of  lofty  virtue  ;  if  they 
they  breathe  not  the  genuine  spirit  of  Christianity ;  if  they 
speak  not  high  approaches  towards  moral  perfection  ;  if 
they  possess  not  an  enduring  sublimity ; — then,  indeed,  have 
I  ill  read  the  human  heart ;  then,  indeed,  have  I  strangely 
mistaken  the  inspirations  of  religion.  If  men,  like  these, 
can  be  passed  by  with  indifference,  because  they  wore  not 
the  princely  robes,  or  the  sacred  lawn,  because  they  shone 
not  in  courts,  or  feasted  in  fashionable  circles,  then,  indeed, 
is  Christian  glory  a  vain  shadow,  and  human  virtue  a  dream, 
about  which  we  disquiet  ourselves  in  vain. 

But  it  is  not  so — it  is  not  so.  There  are  those  around 
me,  whose  hearts  beat  high,  and  whose  lips  grow  eloquent, 
when  the  remembrance  of  such  ancestors  comes  over  their 
thoughts  ;  when  they  read  in  their  deeds  not  the  empty 
forms,  but  the  essence  of  holy  living  and  holy  dying.  Time 
was,  when  the  exploits  of  war,  the  heroes  of  many  battles, 
the  conquerors  of  millions,  the  men,  who  waded  through 


AT    SALEM.  107 

slaughter  to  thrones,  the  kings,  whose  footsteps  were  dark- 
ened  with  blood,  and  the  sceptred  oppressors  of  the  earth, 
were  alone  deemed  worthy  themes  for  the  poet  and  the  ora- 
tor, for  the  song  of  the  minstrel,  and  the  hosannas  of  the 
multitude.  Time  was,  when  feats  of  arms,  and  tournaments, 
and  crusades,  and  the  high  array  of  chivalry,  and  the  pride 
of  royal  banners  waving  for  victory,  engrossed  all  minds. 
Time  was,  when  the  ministers  of  the  altar  sat  down  by  the 
side  of  the  tyrant,  and  numbered  his  victims,  and  stimulated 
his  persecutions,  and  screened  the  instruments  of  his  crimes 
— and  there  was  praise  and  glory  and  revelry  for  these 
things.  Murder,  and  rapine,  burning  cities,  and  desolated 
plains,  if  so  be  they  were  the  bidding  of  royal  or  baronial 
feuds,  led  on  by  the  courtier  or  the  clan,  were  matters  of 
public  boast,  the  delight  of  courts,  and  the  treasured  pleasure 
of  the  fireside  tales.  But  these  times  have  passed  away. 
Christianity  has  resumed  her  meek  and  holy  reign.  The 
Puritans  have  not  lived  in  vain.  The  simple  piety  of  the 
Pilgrims  of  New  England  casts  into  shade  this  false  glitter, 
which  dazzled  and  betrayed  men  into  the  worship  of  their 
destroyers. 

When  this  continent  was  first  discovered,  it  became  an 
object  of  cupidity  to  the  ami  ition  of  many  of  the  nations  of 
Europe.  Each  eagerly  sought  to  appropriate  it  to  itself. 
But  it  was  obvious,  that  in  the  mutual  struggle  for  power, 
contests  of  the  most  sanguinaiy  nature  would  soon  inter- 
vene, if  some  general  principle  were  not  adopted  by  the  con- 
sent of  all  for  the  government  of  all.  The  most  flexible  and 
convenient  principle,  which  occun'ed,  was,  that  the  first  dis- 
covery should  confer  upon  the  nation  of  the  discovei-er  an 
exclusive  right  to  the  soil,  for  the  purposes  of  sovereignty 
and  settlement.  This  principle  was  accordingly  adopted, 
and  became  a  fundamental  doctrine  in  the  code  of  legal 
ethics,  by  which  the  European  governments  regulated  their 
acquisitions.     No  European  subject  was  permitted  to  inter- 


108  story's  discourse, 

fere  with  it,  and  the  possession  acquired  under  it  was  deem- 
ed absokite  and  unquestionable.  In  respect  to  desert  places, 
the  principle,  as  one  of  peace  and  equality  of  benefits,  is  not 
perhaps  obnoxious  to  censure.  But  in  respect  to  countries 
already  inhabited,  neither  its  general  justice,  nor  its  confor- 
mity to  public  law,  entitles  it  to  commendation.  If,  abstrac 
tedly  considered,  mere  discovery  could  confer  any  title,  the 
natives  already  possessed  it  by  such  prior  discovery.  If 
this  were  put  aside,  and  mere  possession  could  confer  sove- 
reignty, they  had  that  possession,  and  were  entitled 
to  the  sovereignty.  In  short,  it  is  clear,  that  upon  the  prin- 
ciples generally  recognised  by  European  nations,  as  between 
themselves,  the  natives  could  not  be  rightfully  displaced. 
And  if  they  were  not  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  those  princi- 
ples, they  might  still  stand  upon  the  eternal  laws  of  natural 
justice,  and  maintain  their  right  to  share  in  the  common  in- 
heritance. Such  a  conclusion  could  not  escape  the  sagacity 
of  the  statesmen  and  princes  of  the  old  world  ;  but  it  was  quite 
too  refined  to  satisfy  their  ambition  and  lust  of  dominion. 
It  was  easy  to  found  an  argument  for  the  expulsion  of  the  na- 
tives upon  their  infidelitj' and  barbarism,  which  allowed  them 
to  be  treated  as  the  enemies  of  God.  It  was  still  more 
plausible  to  hold  out  the  prospect  of  converting  them  to  the 
Christain  faith,  and  thus  to  secure  a  new  triumph  to  civili- 
zation and  the  cross.  If  their  territory  was  invaded,  and 
their  governments  were  overthrown,  if  they  were  compelled 
to  yield  to  the  superior  genius  and  power  of  Europe,  they 
would  still  receive  an  ample  compensation  in  their  admis- 
sion  into  the  bosom  of  European  society  with  its  privileges  and 
improvements.  Such  were  some  of  the  suggestions,  by 
which  royal  ambition  sought  to  disguise  its  real  objects,  and 
to  reconcile  to  religion  itself  the  spirit  of  conquest.  It  is 
but  justice,  however,  to  add,  that  there  was  no  public  avow- 
al, that  the  natives  possessed  no  right  whatsoever.  On  the 
contrary  it  was  conceded,  that  they  possessed  a  present  right 
of  occupancy,  temporary,  indeed,  and  limited,  which  might 


AT    SALEM.  109 

ba  surrendered  to  the    discovering  nation,  and  in  the  mean 
time  was  entitled  to  respect. 

Our  forefathers  did  not  attempt  to  justify  their  own  emi- 
gration and  settlement,  upon  the  European  doctrine  of  the 
x'iorht  of  discovery.  Their  patent  from  the  Crown  contained 
a  grant  of  this  right  ;  but  they  felt  that  there  was  a  more 
general  question  behind.  '  What  warrant  have  we  to  take 
that  land,  which  is,  and  hath  been  of  long  time  possessed  by 
others,  the  sons  of  Adam?'  Their  answer  is  memorable  for 
its  clearness,  strength,  and  bold  assertion  of  principles.  That 
which  is  common  to  all  (said  they)  is  proper  to  none.  This 
savao-e  people  ruleth  over  many  lands  without  title  or  proper- 
ty. Why  may  not  Christians  have  liberty  to  go  and  dwell  a- 
mongst  them  in  their  waste  lands  ?  God  hath  given  to  the 
sons  of  men  a  two-fold  right  to  the  earth.  There  is  a  nat- 
ural right  and  a  civil  right.  The  first  right  was  natural, 
w^hen  men  held  the  earth  in  common.  When  afterwards 
they  appropriated  some  parcels  of  ground,  by  enclosing  and 
peculiar  manurance,  this  in  time  got  them  a  civil  right. 
There  is  more  than  enough  land  for  us  and  them.  God  hath 
consumed  them  with  a  miraculous  plague,  whereby  the  great- 
er part  of  the  country  is  left  void  of  inhabitants.  Besides, 
we  shall  coms  in  with  the  good  leave  of  the  natives.  Such 
arguments  were  certainly  not  unworthy  of  men  of  scrupulous 
virtue.  They  were  aided  by  higher  considerations,  by  the 
desire  to  propagate  Christianity  among  the  Indians  ;  a  de- 
sire, which  is  breathed  forth  in  their  confidential  papers,  in 
their  domestic  letters,  in  their  private  prayers,  and  in  their 
public  devotions.  In  this  object  they  were  not  only  sincere 
but  constant.  So  sincere  and  so  constant,  that  one  of  the 
grave  accusations  against  them  has  been,  that  in  their  reli- 
gious zeal,  they  compelled  the  Indians,  by  penalties,  to  at- 
tend public  worship,  and  allured  them,  by  presents,  to  aban- 
don their  infidelity.  In  truth,  the  pi'opagation  of  Christian- 
ity was  a  leading  motive   with  many  of  the  early   promoters 

of  the    settlement;  and  we  need  no  better  proof  of  it,  than 
10 


110  story's  discourse, 

the  establishment  of  an  Indian  school  at  Harvard  CoUege  to 
teach  them  the  rudiments  of  Christian  faith. 

Whatever,  then,  may  have  been  the  case  in  other  parts 
of  the  continent,  it  is  a  fact,  and  it  should  not  be  forgotten, 
that  our  forefathers  never  attempted  to  displace  the  nations 
by  force,  upon  any  pretence  of  European  right.  They  oc- 
cupied and  cultivated  what  was  obtained  by  gra.nt,  or  was 
found  vacant.  They  constantly  respected  the  Indians  in 
their  settlements  and  claims  of  soil.  They  protected  them 
from  their  enemies,  when  they  sought  refuge  among  them. 
They  stimulated  no  wars  for  their  extermination.  During 
the  space  of  fifty  years,  but  a  single  case  of  serious  warfare 
occurred  ;  and  though  we  cannot  but  lament  the  cruelties  then 
perpetrated,  there  is  no  pretence,  that  they  were  the  ag- 
gressors in  the  contest.  Whatever  complaints,  therefore? 
may  be  justly  urged  by  philosophy,  or  humanity,  or  religion, 
in  our  day,  respecting  the  wrongs  and  injuries  of  the  In- 
dians, they  scarcely  touch  the  Pilgrims  of  New-England. 
Their  hands  were  not  imbrued  in  innocent  blood.  Their 
hearts  were  not  heavy  with  crimes  and  oppressions  engen- 
dered by  avarice.  If  they  were  not  wholly  Avithout  blame, 
they  were  not  deep  in  guilt.  They  might  mistake  the  time, 
or  the  mode  of  christianizing  and  civilizing  the  Indians;  but 
they  did  not  seek  pretences  to  extirpate  them.  Private  hos- 
tilities and  butcheries  there  might  bo  ;  but  they  were  not  en- 
couraged or  justified  by  the  government.  It  is  not,  then,  a  just 
reproach,  sometimes  cast  on  their  memories,  that  their  religion 
narrowed  down  its  charities  to  Christians  only  ;  and  forgot,and 
despised,  and  oppressed  these  forlorn  children  of  the  forest. 

There  is,  indeed,  in  the  fate  of  these  unfortunate  beings, 
much  to  awaken  our  sympathy,  and  much  to  disturb  the  so- 
brietry  of  our  judgment;  much  which  may  be  urged  to  ex- 
cuse their  own  atrocities  ;  much  in  their  characters,  which 
betrays  us  into  an  involuntary  admiration.  What  can  be 
more  melancholy  than  their  history  ?  By  a  law  of  their  na- 
ture, they  seem  destined  to  a  slow,  but  sure  extinction.    Ev- 


AT    SALEM.  Ill 

ery  where  at  the  approach  of  the  white  man  they  fade  away. 
We  hear  the  rustUng  of  their  footsteps,  Uke  that  of  the  with- 
ered leaves  of  autumn,  and  they  are  gone  forever.  They 
pass  mournfully  by  us,  and  they  return  no  more.  Two 
centuries  ago.  the  smoke  of  their  wijiwams  and  the  fires  of 
their  councils  rose  in  every  valley  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the 
farthest  Florida,  from  the  ocean  to  the  Mississippi  and  the 
lakes.  The  shouts  of  victory  and  the  war-dance  rung 
through  the  mountains  and  the  glades.  The  thick  arrows 
and  deadlv  tomahawk  whistled  through  the  forests  ;  and  the 
hunter's  trace,  and  the  dark  encampment  startled  the  wild 
boasts  in  their  lairs.  The  warriors  stood  forth  in  their  glory. 
The  young  listened  to  the  songs  of  other  days.  The  mo- 
th rs  played  with  their  infants,  and  gazed  on  the  scene  with 
warm  hopes  of  the  future.  The  aged  sat  down  ;  but  they 
wept  not.  They  should  soon  ba  at  rest  in  fairer  regions,  where 
the  Great  Spirit  dwelt,  in  a  home  prepared  for  the  brave  be- 
yond  the  western  skies.  Braver  men  never  lived  ;  truer  men 
never  drew  the  bow.  They  had  courage,  and  fortitude,  and 
sagacity,  and  perseverance,  beyond  most  of  the  human  race. 
They  shrunk  from  no  dangers,  and  they  feared  no  hard- 
ships. 

If  they  had  the  vices  of  savage  life,  they  had  the  virtues 
also.  They  were  true  to  their  country,  their  friends,  and 
their  homes.  If  they  forgave  not  injury,  neither  did  they 
forget  kindness.  If  their  vengeance  was  terrible,  their  fidel- 
ity  and  generosity  were  unconquerable  also.  Their  love, 
like  their  hate,  stopped  not  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  But 
where  are  they  ?  Where  are  the  villages,  and  warriors,  and 
youth  ?  The  sachems  and  the  tribes  ?  The  huntei's  and 
their  families  ?  They  have  perished.  They  are  consumed. 
The  wasting  pestilence  has  not  alone  done  the  mighty  work. 
No, — nor  famine,  nor  war.  There  has  been  a  mightier 
power,  a  moral  canker,  which  hath  eaten  into  their  heart- 
cores — a  plague  which  the  touch  of  the  white  man  commu- 
nicated— a  poison,    which  betrayed  them    into  a   lingering 


112  STOKy's    DISCOVRSEj 

ruin.  The  winds  of  the  Atlantic  fan  not  a  single  region, 
which  they  may  now  call  their  own.  Already  the  last  fee- 
ble remnants  of  the  race  are  preparing  for  their  journey  be- 
yond the  Mississippi.  I  see  them  leave  their  miserable 
homes,  the  aged,  the  helpless,  the  women,  and  the  warriors, 
'  few  and  faint,  yet  fearless  still.'  The  ashes  are  cold  on 
their  native  hearths.  The  smoke  no  longer  curls  round 
their  lowly  cabins.  They  move  on  with  a  slow,  unsteady 
step.  The  white  man  is  upon  their  heels,  for  terror  or  des- 
patch ;  but  they  heed  him  not.  They  turn  to  take  a  last 
iook  of  their  deserted  villages-  They  cast  a  last  glance 
upon  the  graves  of  their  fathers.  They  shed  no  tears  ;  they 
utter  no  cries  ;  they  heave  no  groans.  There  is  something 
in  their  hearts  which  passes  speech.  There  is  some- 
thing in  their  looks,  not  of  vengeance  or  submission  ;  but  of 
hard  necessity,  which  stifles  both  ;  which  choaks  all  utter- 
ance ;  which  has  no  aim  or  method.  It  is  courage  absorbed 
in  despair.  They  linger  but  for  a  moment.  Their  look  is 
onward.  They  have  passed  the  fatal  stream.  It  shall  never 
be  repassed  by  them, — no,  never.  Yet  there  lies  not  between 
us  and  them,  an  impassable  gulf.  They  know,  and  feel,  that 
there  is  for  them  still  one  remove  farther,  not  distant,  nor 
unseen.     It  is  the  general  burial-ground  of  their  race. 

Reason  as  we  may,  it  is  impossible  not  to  read  in  such  a 
fate,  much,  that  we  know  not  how  to  interpret  ;  much  of 
provocation  to  cruel  deeds  and  deep  resentments  ;  much  of 
apology  for  wrong  and  perfidy  ;  much  of  pity  mingling  with 
indignation ;  much  of  doubt  and  misgiving  as  to  the  past ; 
much  of  painful  recollections;  much  of  dark  foreboding. 

Philosophy  may  tell  us,  that  conquest  in  other  cases  has 
adopted  the  conquered  into  its  own  bosom ;  and  thus  at  no 
distant  period  given  them  the  common  privileges  of  subjects  ; 
— but  that  the  red  men  are  incapable  of  such  an  assimila- 
tion. By  their  very  nature  and  character  they  can  neither 
unite  themselves  with  civil  institutions,  nor  with  safety  be 
allowed   to  remain  as  distinct  communities.     Policy  may 


AT    SALEM. 


113 


suggest,  that  thoir  ferocious  passions,  their  independent 
spirit,  and  their  wandering  Ufe  disdain  the  restraints  of  so- 
ciety  ;  that  they  will  submit  to  superior  force  only,  while  it 
chains  them  to  the  earth  by  its  pressure.  A  wilderness  is 
essential  to  their  habits  and  pursuits.  They  can  neither  be 
tamed  nor  overawed.  They  subsist  by  war  or  hunting ;  and 
the  game  of  the  forest  is  relinquished  only  for  the  nobler 
game  of  man.  The  question,  therefore,  is  necessarily  re- 
duced to  the  consideration,  whether  the  country  itself  shall 
be  abandoned  by  civilized  man,  or  maintained  by  his  sword 
as  the  right  of  the  strongest. 

It  may  be  so  ;  perhaps,  in  the  wisdom  of  Providence,  it 
must  be  so.  I  pretend  not  to  comprehend,  or  solve  such 
weighty  difficulties.  But  neither  philosophy  nor  policy  can 
shut  out  the  feeUngs  of  nature.  Humanity  must  continue 
to  sigh  at  the  constant  sacrifices  of  this  bold,  but  wasting 
race.  And  Religion,  if  she  may  not  blush  at  the  deed,  must 
as  she  sees  the  successive  victims  depart,  cling  to  the  altar 
with  a  drooping  heart,  and  mourn  over  a  destiny  without 
hope  and  without  example. 

Let  our  consolation  be,  that  our  forefathers  did  not;  pre- 
cipitate the  evil  days.  Their  aim  was  peace;  their  object 
was  the  propagation  of  Christianity. 

There  is  one  other  circumstance  in  the  history  of  the 
Colony,  which  deserves  attention,  because  it  has  afforded  a 
theme  for  bitter  sarcasm  and  harsh  reproach ;  and  as  the 
principal  scenes  of  the  tragedy  took  place  on  this  very  spot, 
this  seems  a  fit  occasion  to  rescue  the  character  of  our  fore- 
fathers from  the  wanton  attacks  of  the  scoffer  and  the  satir- 
ist. I  allude  to  the  memorable  trials  for  witchcraft  in  this 
town  in  1692,  which  terminated  in  the  death  of  many  inno- 
cent persons,  partly  from  blind  credulity  and  partly  from 
overwhelming  fraud.  The  whole  of  these  proceedings  exhibit 
melancholy  proofs  of  the  effect  of  superstition  in  darkening 
the  mind,  and  steeUng  the  heart  against  the  dictates  of  hu- 
manitv.  Indeed,  nothing  has  ever  been  found  more  vindic. 
10* 


114  story's    DISCOt'RSE, 

tive  and  cruel  than  fanaticism,  acting  under  the  influence 
of  preternatural  terror,  and  assuming  to  punish  offences 
created  by  its  own  gloomy  reveries.  Under  such  circum- 
stances it  becomes  itself  the  very  demon,  whose  agency  it 
seeks  to  destroy.  It  loses  sight  of  all  the  common  princi- 
ples of  reason  and  evidence.  It  sees  nothing  around  it  but 
victims  for  sacrifice.  It  hears  nothing  but  the  voice  of  its 
own  vengeance.  It  believes  nothing  but  what  is  monstrous 
and  incredible.  It  conjures  up  every  phantom  of  supersti- 
tion, and  shapes  it  to  the  living  form  of  its  ovv'n  passions  and 
frenzies.  In  short,  insanity  could  hardly  devise  more  re- 
finements in  barbarity,  or  profligacy  execute  them  with 
more  malignant  coolness.  In  the  wretched  butcheries  of 
these  times  (for  so  they  in  fact  were,)  in  which  law  and 
reason  were  frequently  set  at  defiance,  we  have  shocking 
instances  of  unnatural  conduct.  We  find  parents  accusing 
their  children,  children  their  parents,  and  wives  their  hus- 
bands, of  a  crime  which  must  bring  them  to  the  scaffold. 
We  find  innocent  persons,  misled  by  the  hope  of  pardon,  or 
wrought  up  to  frenzy  by  the  pretended  sufferings  of  others, 
freely  accusing  themselves  of  the  same  crime.  We  find 
gross  perjury  practised  to  procure  condemnations,  sometimes 
for  self-protection,  and  sometimes  from  utter  recklessness  of 
consequences.  We  find  even  religion  itself  made  an  instru- 
ment of  vengeance.  We  find  ministers  of  the  gospel  and 
judges  of  the  land  stimulating  the  work  of  persecution,  until  at 
last  in  its  progress  its  desolations  reached  their  own  fire-sides. 
And  yet,  dark  and  sad  as  is  this  picture,  it  furnishes  us  no 
just  reproach  upon  this  ancient  town,  beyond  what  belongs 
to  it  in  common  with  all  New  England,  and,  indeed,  with  all 
Christendom.  Thirty  years  before  this  period  there  had 
been  executions  for  witchcraft  in  this  and  other  colonies,  in 
Charlestown,  Boston,  Springfield,  and  Hartford.  It  has 
been  justly  observed  by  an  intelligent  historian,  that  the 
importance  given  to  the  New  England  trials  proceeded  more 
from  the  general  panic,  than  from  the  number  executed, 


AT    SALEM.  lis 

'more  having  been  put  to  death  in  a  single  county  in  Eng- 
land, in  a  short  space  of  time,  than  have  sufiered  in  all  New 
England  from  the  first  settlement  to  the  present  time.' 

Our  forefathers  were  sincere  believers  in  the  reality  of 
witchcraft ;  and  the  same  opinion  then  prevailed  throughout 
all  Europe.  The  possibility,  nay,  the  actual  existence  of  a 
commerce  with  evil  spirits,  has  had  in  its  support  the  belief 
of  many  enlightened  nations  of  the  world.  Mr.  Justice 
Blackstone  has  not  scrupled  to  declare,  that  to  deny  it,  '  is 
at  once  flatly  to  contradict  the  revealed  word  of  God  in 
various  passages  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.'  I 
meddle  not  with  this  matter  of  controversial  divinity.  But 
it  is  certain,  that  from  the  earliest  times  it  has  been  punished 
as  a  crime  in  all  Christian  countries,  and  generally,  ae  a 
mark  of  peculiar  horror  and  detestation,  with  death.  Such 
was  its  punishment  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  emigration 
of  our  ancestors  ;  and  such  it  continued  to  bo  until  the  reign 
of  George  the  Second.  Surely,  when  we  read  of  convictions 
before  so  mild  and  enlightened  a  judge,  as  Sir  Matthew  Hale, 
it  should  excite  no  surprise,  that  our  own  judges  were  not 
superior  to  the  delusion  ;  that  they  possessed  not  a  wisdom 
bayond  the  law,  nor  a  power  to  resist  the  general  credulit)'. 
My  Lord  Coke,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  own  belief,  loads 
witches  with  the  most  opprobrious  epithets,  as  '  horrible, 
devilish,  and  wicked  offenders  ;'  and  the  Parliament  of  King 
James  the  First  has  enumerated,  in  studied  detail,  divers 
modes  of  conjuration  and  enchantment,  upon  which  it  has 
inflicted  the  punishment  of  death.  Lord  Bacon  has  lent  the 
credit  of  his  own  great  name  to  preserve  some  of  the  won- 
ders and  ointments  of  witchcraft,  with  sundry  wholesome 
restrictions  upon  our  belief  of  their  efficacy.  And  we  have 
high  authority  for  saying,  that  '  it  became  a  science,  every 
where  much  studied  and  cultivated,  to  distinguish  a  true 
witch  by  proper  trials  and  symptoms.' 

We  may  lament,  then,  the  errors  of  the  times,  which  led 
to  these  persecutions.     But  surely  our  ancestors  had  nospe- 


116  story's  discourse, 

cial  reasons  for  shame  in  belief,  which  had  the  universal 
sanction  of  their  own  and  all  former  ages ;  which  counted 
in  its  train  philosophers,  as  well  as  enthusiasts  ;  which  was 
graced  by  the  learning  of  prelates,  as  well  as  the  counte- 
nance of  kings  ;  which  the  law  supported  by  its  mandates, 
and  the  purest  judges  felt  no  compunctions  in  enforcing. 
Let  Witch  Hill  remain  for  ever  memorable  by  this  sad  ca- 
tastrophe, not  to  perpetuate  our  dishonor,  but  as  an  affecting, 
enduring  proof  of  human  infirmity ;  a  proof,  that  perfect 
justice  belongs  to  one  Judgment-seat  only,  that  which  is 
linked  to  the  Throne  of  God. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  go  at  large  into  the  history  of  New 
England,  and  my  own  strength,  as  well  as  your  patience,  is 
far  spent.  Yet  it  should  not  be  concealed,  that  we  have  a 
proud  consciousness  of  the  spirit  and  principles  of  our  fa- 
thers throughout  every  period  of  their  colonial  existence. 
At  no  time  were  they  the  advocates  of  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance  to  rulers  at  home  or  abroad.  At  all 
times  they  insisted,  that  the  right  of  taxation  and  the  right 
of  representation  were  inseparable  in  a  free  government  ; 
and  that  on  that  account  the  power  of  taxation  was  vested 
exclusively  in  their  own  colonial  legislature.  At  all  times 
they  connected  themselves,  with  a  generous  fidelity,  to  the 
fortunes  of  the  mother  country,  and  shared  the  common  bur- 
thens,  and  bore  the  common  hardships  with  cheerfulness. 
The  sons  of  New-England  were  found  in  her  ranks  in  battle, 
foremost  in  danger  ;  but,  as  is  not  unusual  in  colonial  ser- 
vice, latest  in  the  rewards  of  victory.  An  ante-revolutiona- 
ry historian  of  unquestionable  accuracy  has  said,  that  '  in 
the  course  of  sixty  years  the  Province  of  Massachusetts 
hath  been  at  a  greater  expense,  and  hath  lost  more  of  its 
inhabitants,  than  all  the  other  colonies  upon  the  continent 
taken  together.'  In  the  Indian  wars,  in  the  successive  at- 
tacks upon  the  French  colonies,  and  in  the  capture  of  Que- 
bec and  the  Canadas,  they  bore  an  honorable  and  important 
part.     Even  when  their  first  charter  was  vacated,  their  re- 


AT    SALEM.  117 

sistancc  to  the  arbitral-}-  measures  of  Sir  EdmuiHl  Aiidros 
was  but  a  prelude  to  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  Re- 
volution. 

Of  the  memorable  events  of  a  later  period  ;  of  the  resist- 
ance to  British  oppression  ;  of  the  glorious  war  of  Independ- 
ence ;  of  the  subsequent  establishment  of  the  national  gov- 
ernmant,  I  need  not  speak.  They  are  familiar  to  all  of  us  ; 
but  though  repeated  for  the  thousandth  time,  they  still  pos- 
sess an  animating  freshness.  In  the  struggle  for  independ- 
ence, in  wliich  all  the  colonics  embarked  in  a  common 
cause,  and  all  exhibited  examples  of  heroism  and  public  spir- 
it,  and  in  Avhich  all  seemed  to  forget  themselves  and  re- 
member only  their  country,  it  would  be  invidious  to  draw 
comparisons  of  relative  merit,  since  the  true  glory  of  each 
is  in  the  aggregate  achievements  of  all.  Throughout  the 
contest,  the  citizens  of  various  states  fought  side  by  side, 
and  shared  the  common  toils.  Their  suflcrings  and  their 
fame  were  blended  at  every  step,  in  the  hour  of  peril,  and 
in  the  hour  of  triumph.  Let  not  those  bo  separated  in  death, 
who  in  life  were  not  divided. 

But  I  may  say,  that  New-England  was  not  behind  the 
other  states  in  zeal,  in  public  sacrifices,  in  contributions  of 
men  and  money,  in  firmness  of  resolve,  or  in  promptitude  of 
action.  The  blood  of  her  children  was  freely  poured  not 
only  on  her  own  soil,  but  in  every  field,  where  armies  met  in 
hostile  array.  It  Hawed  not  on  the  land  alone ;  the  ocean 
received  it  into  its  swelling  bosom.  Wherever  the  battle  ra- 
ged, they  were  found ;  and  many  a  gallant  spirit  breathed 
his  last  breath  on  the  deck,  with  his  thoughts  still  warm  with 
the  love  of  his  native  New-England.  Let  a  single  fact  con- 
cerning Massachusetts  suffice  to  establish  no  mean  claim  to 
respect.  Upon  the  final  adjustment  of  the  accounts  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  although  her  own  soil  had  been  but  for  a 
short  period  occupied  by  the  enemy,  she  had  expended  cigh- 
teen  million  of  dollars,  and  the  balance  then  due  to  her  ex- 
ceeded  one  million.     One  state  only  in  the  Union  surpassed 


118  story's  discourse, 

her  in  expenditures,  and  none  in  the  balance  in  her  favor. 
But  this  would  give  a  very  inadequate  view  of  her  real  ef- 
forts. Her  voluntary  bounties  upon  enUstments,  her  town 
and  county  contributions,  are  almost  incredible,  when  we 
consider  the  general  poverty  and  distress.  But  I  forbear. 
Much  might  be  urged  in  her  favor,  much  in  favor  of  her 
New-England  sisters,  which  has  been  sometimes  remember- 
ed, only  to  be  forgotten.  Much  might  be  said  of  the  long 
array  of  statesmen  and  divines  and  lawyers  and  physicians, 
of  the  literature  and  science,  which  have  adorned  our  an- 
nals. Let  it  pass — let  it  pass.  Their  works  shall  praise 
them.  They  cannot  be  concealed,  whenever  the  deeds  of 
our  country  are  recited.  The  writer  of  the  declaration  of 
Independence  is  not  ours  ;  but  the  author  of  the  act  itself  re- 
poses among  us.  He,  who  was  '  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,'  sleeps  in  his  na- 
tive soil  by  the  side  of  the  beautiful  Potomac.  But  the  Colo- 
ny of  Roger  Williams,  of  narrow  territory,  but  of  ample  en- 
terprise,  may  boast  of  one,  second  in  excellence  only  to 
Washington. 

But  while  we  review  our  past  history,  and  recollect  what 
we  have  been,  and  are,  the  duties  of  this  day  were  but  ill 
performed,  if  we  stopped  here  ;  if  turning  from  the  past, 
and  entering  on  the  third  century  of  our  political  existence, 
we  gave  no  heed  to  the  voice  of  experience,  and  dwelt  not 
with  thoughts  of  earnest,  busy  solicitude  upon  the  future. 
What  is  to  be  the  destiny  of  this  Republic  ?  In  proposin<'' 
this  question,  I  drop  all  thought  of  New-England.  She  has 
bound  herself  to  the  fate  of  the  Union.  May  she  be  true  to 
it,  now,  and  for  ever  ;  true  to  it,  because  true  to  herself,  true 
to  her  own  principles,  true  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  lib- 
erty throughout  the  world.  I  speak  then  of  our  common 
country,  of  that  blessed  mother,  that  has  nursed  us  in  her 
lap,  and  led  us  up  to  manhood.  What  is  her  destiny  ?  Whith- 
er does  the  finger  of  fate  point  ?  Is  the  career,  on  which 
we  have  entered  to  be  bright    with  ages  of  onward  and  up. 


AT    SALEM.  119 

warJ  glory  ?  Or  is  our  doom  already  recorded  in  the  past 
history  of  the  earth,  in  the  past  lessons  of  the  decUne  and  fall 
of  other  republics?  If  we  are  to  flourish  with  a  vigorous 
growth,  it  must  be  (I  think)  by  cherishing  principles,  in- 
stitutions,  pursuits,  and  morals,  such  as  planted,  and  have 
hitherto  supported  New-England.  If  we  are  to  fall,  may 
she  stiil  possess  the  melancholy  consolation  of  the  Trojan 
patriot  ; 

'  Sat  patriae  Priamoque  datum  ;  si  Pergama  dextra 
Defcndi  possent,  etiam  hac  defensafuissent.' 

I  would  not  willingly  cloud  the  pleasures  of  such  a  day, 
even  with  a  transient  shade.  I  would  not,  that  a  single  care 
should  fit  across  the  polished  brow  of  hope,  if  considerations 
of  the  highest  moment  did  not  demand  our  thoughts,  and  give 
us  counsel  of  our  duties.  Who,  indeed,  can  look  around 
liim  upon  the  attractions  of  this  scene,  upon  the  faces  of  the 
happy  and  the  free,  the  smiles  of  youthful  beauty,  the  graces 
of  matron  virtue,  the  strong  intellect  of  manhood,  and  the 
dio-nity  of  age,  and  hail  these  as  the  accompaniments  of  peace 
and  independence  ; — who  can  look  around  him  and  not  at 
the  same  time  feel,  that  change  is  written  on  all  the  works 
of  man ;  that  the  breath  of  a  tyrant,  or  the  fury  of  a  corrupt 
populace,  may  destroy  in  one  hour,  what  centuries  have 
slowly  consolidated.  It  is  the  privilege  of  great  minds, 
that  to  them  '  coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.'  We 
may  not  possess  this  privilege  ;  but  it  is  true  wisdom,  not  to 
blind  ourselves  to  dangers,  Avhich  are  in  full  view  ;  and  true 
prudence,  to  guard  against  those,  of  which  experience  has 
already  admonished  us. 

When  we  reflect  on  what  has  been,  and  is,  how  is  it  pos- 
sible not  to  feel  a  profound  sense  of  the  responsibleness  of 
this  Republic  to  all  future  ages.  What  v?st  motives  press 
upon  us  for  lofty  eflforts.  What  brilliant  prospects  invite 
our  enthusiasm.  What  solemn  warnings  at  once  demand 
our  vigilance,  and  our  confidence. 


120  stoky's  discourse, 

The  old  world  has  already  revealed  to  us  in  its  unsealed 
books  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  its  own  marvellous  strug- 
gles  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  Greece,  lovely  Greece,  '  the 
land  of  scholars  and  the  nurse  of  arms,'  where  sister  republics 
in  fair  possessions  chanted  the  praises  of  liberty  and  the 
gods  ;  where,  and  what  is  she  ?  For  two  thousand  years 
the  oppressor  has  bound  her  to  the  earth.  Her  arts  are  no 
more.  The  last  sad  relics  of  her  temples  are  but  the  bar- 
racks of  a  ruthless  soldiery  ;  the  fragments  of  her  columns 
and  her  palaces  are  in  the  dust,  yet  beautiful  in  ruin.  She 
fell  not,  when  the  mighty  were  upon  her.  Her  sons  were 
united  at  Tliermopyte  and  Marathon  ;  and  the  tide  of  her 
triumph  rolled  back  upon  the  Hellespont.  She  was  con- 
quered by  her  own  factions.  She  fell  by  the  hands 
of  her  own  people.  The  Man  of  Macedonia  did  not 
the  work  of  destruction.  It  was  already  done  by  her 
own  corruptions,  banishments,  a,nd  dissensions.  Rome, 
republican  Rome,  whose  eagles  glanced  in  the  rising  and 
setting  sun,  where,  and  what  is  she  ?  The  eternal  city  yet 
remains,  proud  even  in  her  desolation,  noble  in  her  decline, 
venerable  in  the  majesty  of  religion,  and  calm  as  in  the 
composure  of  death.  The  malaria  has  but  travelled  in  the 
paths  worn  by  her  destroyers.  More  than  eighteen  centu- 
ries have  mourned  over  the  loss  of  her  empire.  A  mortal 
disease  was  upon  her  vitals  before  Caesar  had  crossed  the 
Rubicon  ;  and  Brutus  did  not  restore  her  health  by  the  deep 
probings  of  the  Senate  chamber.  The  Goths  and  Vandals 
and  Huns,  the  swarms  of  the  North,  completed  only  what 
was  already  begun  at  home.  Romans  betrayed  Rome.  The 
legions  were  bought  and  sold  ;  but  the  people  offered  the  tri- 
bute money. 

And  where  are  the  republics  of  modern  times,  which  clus- 
tered round  immortal  Italy  ?  Venice  and  Genoa  exist  but  in 
name.  The  Alps,  indeed,  look  down  upon  the  brave  and 
peaceful  Swiss  in  their  native  flistnesses  ;  but  the  guaranty 
of  their  freedom    is  in  their    weakness,    and  not    in  their 


AT    SALEM.  121 

strength.  The  mountains  are  not  easily  crossed,  and  the 
vaUies  are  not  easily  retained.  When  the  invader  comes, 
he  moves  like  an  avalanche,  carrying  destruction  in  his 
path.  The  peasantry  sinks  before  him  The  country  is 
too  poor  for  plunder  ;  and  too  rough  for  valuable  conquest. 
Nature  presents  her  eternal  barriers  on  every  side  to  check 
the  wantonness  of  ambition ;  and  Switzerland  remains  with 
her  simple  institutions,  a  miUtary  road  to  fairer  climates, 
scarcely  worth  a  permanent  possession,  and  protected  by  the 
jealousy  of  her  neighbors. 

We  stand  the  latest,  and,  if  we  fail,  probably  the  last  ex- 
periment  of  self-government  by  the  people.  We  have  be- 
gun it  under  circumstances  of  the  most  auspicious  nature. 
We  are  in  the  vigor  of  youth.  Our  growth  has  never  been 
checked  by  the  oppressions  of  tyranny-  Our  constitutions 
have  never  been  enfeebled  by  the  vices  or  luxuries  of  the  old 
world.  Such  as  we  are,  we  have  been  from  the  beginning  ; 
simple,  hardy,  intelligent,  accustomed  to  self-government 
and  self-respect.  The  Atlantic  rolls  between  us  and  any 
formidable  foe.  Within  our  own  territory,  stretching  through 
many  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude,  we  have  the  choice 
of  many  products,  and  many  means  of  independence.  The 
government  is  mild.  The  press  is  free.  Religion  is  free. 
Knowledge  reaches,  or  may  reach,  every  home.  What  fair- 
er prospect  of  success  could  be  presented  ?  What  means 
more  adequate  to  accomplish  the  sublime  end  ?  What  more 
is  necessary,  than  for  the  people  to  preserve  what  they 
themselves  have  created  ? 

Already  has  the  age  caught  the  spirit  of  our  institutions. 
It  has  already  ascended  the  Andes,  and  snuffed  the  breezes 
of  both  oceans.  It  has  infused  itself  into  the  life-blood  of 
Europe,  and  warmed  the  sunny  plains  of  France,  and  the 
low  lands  of  Holland.  It  has  touched  the  philosophy  of 
Germany  and  the  North,  and,  moving  onward  to  the  South, 
has  opened  to  Greece  the  lessons  of  her  better  days. 

Can  it  be,  that  America  under  such  circumstances  can 
11 


123  -— ' 


STORY  S    DISCOURSE. 


betray  herself?  That  she  is  to  be  added  to  the  catalogue  of 
republics,  the  inscription  upon  whose  ruins  is,  '  They  were, 
but  they  are  not.'  Forbid  it,  my  countrymen;  forbid  it, 
Heaven. 

I  call  upon  you,  fathers,  by  the  shades  of  your  ancestors, 
by  the  dear  ashes  which  repose  in  this  precious  soil,  by  all 
you  are,and  all  you  hope  to  be  ;  resist  every  object  of  disunion, 
resist  every  encroachment  upon  your  liberties,  resist  every 
attempt  to  fetter  your  consciences,  or  smother  your  pubUc 
schools,  or  extinguish  your  system  of  public  instruction. 

I  call  upon  you,  mothers,  by  that  which  never  fails  in  wo- 
man,  the  love  of  your  offspring  ;  teach  them,  as  they  climb 
your  knees,  or  lean  on  your  bosoms,  the  blessings  of  liberty. 
Swear  them  at  the  altar,  as  with  their  baptismal  vows,  to  be 
true  to  their  country,  and  never  to  forget  or  forsake  her. 

I  call  upon  you,  young  men,  to  remember  whose  sons  you 
are ;  whose  inheritance  you  possess.  Life  can  never  be  too 
short,  which  brings  nothing  but  disgrace  and  oppression. 
Death  never  comes  too  soon,  if  necessary  in  defence  of  the 
liberties  of  your  country. 

I  call  upon  you,  old  men,  for  your  counsels,  and  your  pray- 
ers,  and  your  benedictions.  May  not  your  grey  hairs  go 
down  in  sorrow  to  the  grave  with  the  recollection,  that  you 
have  lived  in  vain.  May  not  your  last  sun  sink  in  the  west 
upon  a  nation  of  slaves. 

No — I  read  in  the  destiny  of  my  country  far  better  hopes, 
far  brighter  visions.  We,  who  are  now  assembled  here  must 
soon  be  gathered  to  the  congregation  of  other  days.  The 
time  of  our  departure  is  at  hand,  to  make  way  for  our  chil- 
dren  upon  the  theatre  of  life.  May  God  speed  them  and 
theirs.  May  he,  who  at  the  distance  of  another  century 
shall  stand  here  to  celebrate  this  day,  still  look  round  upon  a 
free,  happy,  and  virtuous  people.  May  he,  have  reason  to 
exult  as  we  do.  May  he,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  truth 
as  well  as  of  poetry,  exclaim,  that  here  is  still  his  country. 


EXTRACT  Fli03I  AN  ADDRESS, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  LITERARY  SOCIETIES  AT  CHAP- 
EL-HILL. 

BY  WILLIAM  GASTON. 

Deeply  rooted  principles  of  probity,  confirmed  habits  of 
industry,  and  a  determination  to  rely  on  one's  own  exertion, 
constitute  then  the  great  preparation  for   the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  man,  and  the  best  security  for  performing  thera 
with  honor  to  one's  self  and  benefit  to  others.     But  it  may 
be  asked,  what  is  there  in  such   a  life  of  never-ending  toil, 
effort  and  privation,  to  recommend  it  to  the  acceptance  of 
the  young  and  the  gay  ?    Those  who  aspire  to  heroic  renown, 
may  indeed  make  up  their  minds  to  embrace  these  "  hard 
doctrines  ;"  but  it  may  be  well  questioned,   whether  happi- 
ness  is  not  preferable  to  greatness,  and  enjoyment  more  de- 
sirable  than  distinction.     Let  others,  if  they  will,   toil  up 
"the  steep   where  Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar,"  we 
choose  rather  to  sport  in  luxurious  ease  and  careless  glee  in 
the  valley  below.     It  is,  indeed,  on  those  who  aspire  to  emi- 
nence, that  these  injunctions  are  intended  to  be  pressed  with 
the  greatest   emphasis,  not  only  because  a  failure   in  them 
would  be  more  disastrous  than  in  others,  but  because  they 
arc  exposed  to  greater  and  more  numerous  dangers  of  error. 
But  it  is  a  sad  mistake  to  suppose  that  they  are  not  suited  to 
all,  and  are  not  earnestly   urged  upon  all,  however  humble 
their  pretensions  or  moderate  their  views.     Happiness,  as 
well  as  greatness,  enjoyment  as  well  as  renown,  have  no 
friends  so  sure  as  Integrity,  Diligence  and  Independence. 
We  are  not  placed  here  to  waste  our  days  in  wanton  riot  or 


124  Gaston's  address, 

inglorious  ease,  with  appetites  perpetually  gratified  and 
never  palled,  exempted  from  all  care  and  solicitude,  with  life 
ever  fresh,  and  joys  ever  new.  He  who  has  fitted  us  for  our 
condition,  and  assigned  to  us  its  appropriate  duties,  has  not 
left  his  work  unfinished,  and  omitted  to  provide  a  penalty 
for  the  neglect  of  our  oWigations.  Labour  is  not  more  the 
duty,  than  the  blessing  of  man.  Without  it,  there  is  neither 
mental  nor  physical  vigor,  health,  cheerfulness  nor  anima- 
tion ;  neither  the  eagerness  of  hope,  nor  the  capacity  to 
enjoy.  Every  human  being  must  have  some  object  to  en- 
gage his  attention,  excite  his  wishes,  and  rouse  him  to  action, 
or  he  sinks,  a  prey  to  listlessness.  For  want  of  proper  oc- 
cupations, see  strenuous  idleness  resorting  to  a  thousand 
expedients — the  race-course,  the  bottle,  or  the  gaming-table, 
the  frivolities  of  fashion,  the  debasements  of  sensuality,  the 
petty  contentions  of  envy,  the  grovelling  pursuits  of  avarice, 
and  all  the  various  distracting  agitations  of  vice.  Call  you 
these  enjoyments?  Is  such  the  happiness  which  it  is  so 
dreadful  to  forego  ? 

"Vast  happiness  enjoy  thy  gay  allies  I 

"  A  youth  of  follies,  an  old  age  of  cares, 

"Young  yet  enervate,  old  yet  never  wise ; 

"  Vice  wastes  their  vigor  and  their  mind  impairs. 

"  Vain,  idle,  dissolute,  in  thoughtless  ease, 

"Reserving  woes  for  age,  their  prime  they  spend; 

"  All  wretched,  hopeless  to  the  evil  days, 

"  With  sorrow  to  the  verge  of  life  they  tend ; 

"  Grieved  with  the  present,  of  the  past  ashamed  ; 

"They  live  and  are  despised,  they  die,  no  more  are  named." 

If  to  every  bounty  of  Providence  there  be  annexed,  as  as- 
suredly there  is,  some  obligation  as  a  condition  for  its  en- 
joyment :  on  us,  blest  as  we  have  been,  and  as  we  now  are, 
with  the  choicest  gifts  of  Heaven  here  below — with  freedom, 
peace,  order,  civiUzation  and  social  virtue — then  are  unqes- 
tionably  imposed  weighty  obligations.  You  whom  I  now 
address,  will,  in  a  few  years,  be  among  the  men  of  the  suc- 
ceeding age.     In  a  country  lilio  ours,  where  the  public  will 


AT    CIIArEL    HILL. 


125 


is  wholly  unfettered,  and  every  man  is  a  component  part  of 
that  country,  tliere  is  no  individual  so  humble  who  has  not 
duties  of  a  public  kind  to  discharge.  His  views  and  actions 
have  an  influence  on  those  of  others,  and  his  opinions,  with 
theirs,  serve  to  make  up  that  public  will.  IMore  especially  is 
this  the  case  with  those  who,  whatever  may  be  their  pursuits 
in  life,  have  been  raised  by  education  to  a  comparative  su- 
periority in  intellectual  vigor  and  attainments.  On  you, 
and  such  as  you,  depends  the  fate  of  the  most  precious  heri- 
tage  ever  won  by  the  valor,  or  preserved  by  the  prudence,  or 
consecrated  by  the  virtue  of  an  illustrious  ancestry — illustri- 
ous, not  because  of  factitious  titles,  but  nature's  nobles,  wise, 
good,  generous  and  brave  !  To  you,  and  such  as  you,  will 
be  confided  in  deposit,  the  institutions  of  our  renowned  a^id 
beloved  country.  Receive  them  with  awe,  cherish  them 
with  loyalty,  and  transmit  them  whole,  and  if  possible,  im- 
proved to  your  children.  Yours  will,  indeed,  be  no  sinecure 
office.  As  the  public  will  is  the  operative  spring  of  all  pub- 
lic action,  it  will  be  your  duty  to  make  and  to  keep  the  public 
will  enlightened.  There  will  always  be  some  error  to  dispel, 
some  prejudice  to  correct,  some  illusion  to  guard  against, 
some  imposition  to  detect  and  expose.  In  aid  of  these  indi- 
vidual efforts,  you  must  provide,  by  public  institutions,  for 
diffusing  among  the  people,  that  general  information  without 
which  they  cannot  be  protected  from  the  machinations  of 
deceivers.  As  your  country  grows  in  years,  you  must  also 
cause  it  to  grow  in  science,  literature,  arts  and  refinement. 
It  will  be  for  you  to  develope  and  multiply  its  resources,  to 
check  the  faults  of  manners  as  they  rise,  and  to  advance  the 
cause  of  industry,  temperance,  moderation,  justice,  morals 
and  religion,  all  around  you.  On  you  too,  will  devolve  the 
duty  which  has  been  too  long  neglected,  but  which  cannot 
with  impunity  be  neglected  much  longer,  of  providing  for 
the  mitigation,  and  (is  it  too  much  to  hope  for  in  North 
Carolina?)  for  the  ultimate  extirpation  of  the  worst  evil  that 
afflicts  the  southern  part  of  our  confederacy.  Full  well  do 
11* 


126  Gaston's  address, 

you  knoAv  to  what  I  refer,  for  on  this  subject  there  is  with  all  of 
us,  a  morbid  sensitiveness  which  gives Avarning  even  of  an  ap- 
proach to  it.  Disguise  the  truth  as  we  may,  and  throw  the 
blame  where  we  will,  it  is  Slavery  which,  more  than  any  other 
cause,  keeps  us  back  in  the  career  of  improvement.  It  sti- 
fles industry  and  represses  enterprize — it  is  fatal  to  economy 
and  providence — it  discourages  skill — impairs  our  strength 
as  a  community,  and  poisons  morals  at  the  fountain  head. 
How  this  evil  is  to  be  encountered,  how  subdued,  is  indeed  a 
difficult  and  delicate  inquiry,  which  this  is  not  the  time  to 
examine,  nor  the  occasion  to  discuss.  I  felt,  however,  that 
I  could  not  discharge  my  duty  without  referring  to  this  sub- 
ject, as  one  which  ought  to  engage  the  prudence,  moderation 
and  firmness  of  those  who,  sooner  or  later,  must  act  deci- 
sively  upon  it. 

I  would  not  depress  your  buoyant  spirits  with  gloomy  an- 
ticipations, but  I  should  be  wanting  in  frankness,  if  I  did 
not  state  my  conviction  that  you  will  be  called  to  the  per- 
formance  of  other  duties  unusually  grave  and  important. 
Perils  surround  you  and  are  imminent,  which  will  require 
clear  heads,  pure  intentions,  and  stout  hearts,  to  discern  and 
to  overcome.  There  is  no  side  on  which  danger  may  not 
make  its  approach ;  but  from  the  wickedness  and  madness 
of  factions,  it  is  most  menacing.  Time  was,  indeed,  when 
factions  contended  amongst  us  with  virulence  and  fury ;  but 
they  were,  or  affected  to  be,  at  issue  on  questions  of  prin- 
ciple  ;  now,  Americans  band  together  under  the  names  of 
men,  and  wear  the  livery,  and  put  on  the  badges  of  their 
leaders.  Then,  the  individuals  of  the  different  parties  were 
found  side  by  side,  dispersed  throughout  the  various  districts 
of  our  confederated  Republic  ;  but  now,  the  parties  that  dis- 
tract the  land,  are  almost  identified  with  our  geographical 
distinctions.  Now,  there  has  come  that  period,  foreseen  and 
dreaded  by  our  Washington,  by  him  "Avho,  more  than  any 
other  individual,  founded  this  our  wide-spreading  Empire, 
and  gave  to  our  western  world  independence  and  freedom" 


AT    CHAPEL    HILL.  127 

— by  him,  who  with  a  father's  warning  voice,  bade  us  be- 
ware of  "parties  founded  on  geographical  discriminations." 
As  yet,  the  sentiment  so  deeply  planted  in  the  hearts  of  our 
honest  yeomanry,  that  union  is  strength,  has  not  been  up- 
rooted. As  yet,  they  acknowledge  the  truth,  and  feel  the 
force  of  the  homely,  but  excellent  aphorism,  "  United  we 
stand,  divided  we  fall."  As  yet,  they  take  pride  in  the  name 
of  "  the  United  States" — in  recollection  of  the  fields  that 
were  won,  the  blood  which  was  poured  forth,  and  the  glory 
which  was  gained  in  the  common  cause,  and  under  the  com- 
mon banner  of  a  united  country.  May  God,  in  his  mercy, 
forbid  that  I,  or  you,  my  friends,  should  live  to  see  the  day, 
when  these  sentiments  and  feelings  shall  bo  extinct !  When- 
ever that  day  comes,  then  is  the  hour  at  hand,  when  this 
glorious  Republic,  this  at  once  national  and  confederated 
Republic,  which  for  nearly  half  a  century  has  presented  to 
the  eyes,  the  hopes  and  the  gratitude  of  man,  a  more  brilliant 
and  lovely  image  than  Plato,  or  More,  or  Harrington,  ever 
feigned  or  fancied,  shall  be  like  a  tale  that  is  told,  like  a  vis- 
ion  that  hath  passed  away.  But  these  sentiments  and  feel- 
ings are  necessarily  weakened,  and  in  the  end  must  be  de- 
stroyed, unless  the  moderate,  the  good  and  the  wise  united, 
'*  frown  indignantly  upon  the  first  dawnings  of  every  attempt 
to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to 
enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  its  various 
parts."  Threats  of  resistance,  secession,  separation — have 
become  common  as  household  words,  in  the  wicked  and  silly 
violence  of  public  declairners.  The  public  ear  is  familiariz- 
ed, and  the  public  mind  will  soon  be  accustomed,  to  the  de- 
testable suggestions  of  Disunon!  Calculations  and  con- 
jectures, what  may  the  East  do  without  the  South,  and  what 
may  the  South  do  without  the  East,  sneers,  menaces,  re- 
proaches, and  recriminations,  all  tend  to  the  same  fatal  end  ! 
What  can  the  East  do  v/ithout  the  South  ?  What  can  the 
South  do  without  the  East  ?  They  may  do  much  ;  they 
may  exhibit  to  the  curiosity  of  political  anatomists,  and  the 


128  Gaston's  addeess, 

pity  and  wonder  of  the  world,  the  "disjecta  rnembra,^^  the 
sundered  bleeding  limbs  of  a  once  gigantic  body  instinct 
with  hfe  and  strength  and  vigor.  They  can  furnish  to  the 
philosophic  historian,  another  melancholy  and  striking  in- 
stance of  the  political  axiom,  that  all  Republican  confedera- 
cies have  an  inherent  and  unavoidable  tendency  to  dissolu- 
tion. They  will  present  fields  and  occasions  for  border  wars, 
for  leagues  and  counter-leagues,  for  the  intrigues  of  petty 
statesmen,  the  struggles  of  military  chiefs,  for  confiscations, 
insurrections,  and  deeds  of  darkest  hue.  They  will  gladden 
the  hearts  of  those  who  have  proclaimed,  that  men  are  not 
fit  to  govern  themselves,  and  shed  a  disastrous  eclipse  on  the 
hopes  of  rational  freedom  throughout  the  world.  Solon,  in 
his  Code,  proposed  no  punishment  for  parricide,  treating  it 
as  an  impossible  crime.  Such,  with  us,  ought  to  be  the 
crime  of  political  parricide — the  dismemberment  of  our 
"father-land."  "  Cari  sunt  parentes,  carl  sunt  liberi,  pro- 
pinqui,  famiViares,  sed  omnes  omnium  caritates  patria  una 
complex  a  est;  pro  qua  quis  bonus  dubiiet  mortem  appetere  si  ei 
sit  prof  uturus  ?  Quo  est  detesiabitior  istorum  immanitas  qui 
lacerarunt  scelere  patriam,  et  in  ea  funditus  delenda  occupati 
ct  sunt  et  fuerunt." 

If  it  must  be  so,  let  parties  and  party  men  continue  to  quar- 
rel with  little  or  no  regard  to  the  public  good.  They  may 
mystify  themselves  and  others  with  disputations  on  political 
economy,  proving  the  most  opposite  doctrines  to  their  own 
satisfaction,  and  perhaps,  to  the  conviction  of  no  one  else  on 
earth.  They  may  deserve  reprobation  for  their  selfishness, 
their  violence,  their  errors,  or  their  wickedness.  They  may 
do  our  country  much  harm.  They  may  retard  its  growth, 
destroy  its  harmony,  impair  its  character,  render  its  insti- 
tutions  unstable,  pervert  the  public  mind,  and  deprave  the 
public  morals.  These  are,  indeed,  evils,  and  sore  evils,  but 
the  principle  of  life  remains,  and  will  yet  struggle  with  assur- 
ed success,  over  these  temporary  maladies.  Still  we  are 
great,  glorious,  united  and  free ;  still  we  have  a  name  that 


AT    CHAPEL    HILL.  129 

is  revered  abroad  and  loved  at  home — a  name  which  is  a 
tower  of  strength  to  us  against  foreign  wrong,  and  a  bond  of 
internal  union  and  harmony — a  name,  which  no  enemy 
pronounces  but  with  respect,  and  which  no  citizen  hears, 
but  with  a  throb  of  exultation.  Still  we  have  that  blessed 
Constitution,  which,  with  all  its  pretended  defects,  and  all 
its  alleged  violations,  has  conferred  more  benefit  on  man, 
than  ever  yet  flowed  from  any  other  human  institution — 
which  has  established  justice,  insured  domestic  tranquillity, 
provided  for  the  common  defence,  promoted  the  general  wel- 
fare, and  which,  under  God,  if  we  be  true  to  ourselves,  will 
insure  the  blessings  of  Liberty  to  us  and  our  posterity. 

Surely,  such  a  country  and  such  a  Constitution,  have 
claims  upon  you,  my  friends,  which  cannot  be  disregarded. 
I  entreat  and  adjure  you  then,  by  all  that  is  near  and  dear  to 
you  on  earth,  by  all  the  obligations  of  patriotism,  by  the 
memory  of  your  fathers,  who  fell  in  the  great  and  glorious 
struggle,  for  the  sake  of  your  sons  whom  you  would  not 
have  to  blush  for  your  degeneracy,  by  all  your  proud 
recollections  of  the  past,  and  all  your  fond  anticipations  of 
the  future  renown  of  our  nation — preserve  that  Country, 
uphold  that  Constitution.  Resolve,  that  they  shall  not  be 
lost  while  in  your  keeping,  and  may  God  Almighty  strength. 
en  you  to  perform  that  vow ! 


EXTRACT   FR03I   A   SERMON, 

ON  DUELLING. 

BY  LYMAN  BEECHER,  D.  D. 

And  now  let  me  ask  you  solemnly  ;  with  these  considera- 
tions  in  view,  will  you  persist  in  your  attachment  to  these 
guilty  men  ?  Will  you  any  longer,  either  deliberately  or 
thoughtlessly  vote  for  them  ?  Will  you  renounce  allegiance  to 
your  Maker,  and  cast  the  bible  behind  your  back  ?  Will  you 
confide  in  men,  void  of  the  fear  of  God  and  destitute  of  moral 
principle  ?  Will  you  intrust  life  to  murderers,  and  liberty 
to  DESPOTS  ?  Are  you  patriots,  and  will  you  constitute  those 
legislators,  who  despise  you,  and  despise  equal  laws,  and 
wage  war  with  the  eternal  principles  of  justice?  Are  you 
christians,  and,  by  upholding  duellists,  will  you  deluge  the 
land  with  blood,  and  fill  it  with  widows  and  with  orphans  ? 
Will  you  aid  in  the  prostration  of  justice — in  the  escape  of 
criminals — in  the  extinction  of  liberty?  Will  you  place  in 
the  chair  of  state — in  the  senate — or  on  the  bench  of  jus- 
tice, men  who,  if  able,  would  murder  you  for  speaking  truth  ? 
Shall  your  elections  turn  on  expert  shooting,  and  your  deli- 
berative bodies  become  an  host  of  armed  men  ?  Will  you 
destroy  public  morality  by  tolerating,  yea,  by  rewarding  the 
most  infamous  crimes  ?  Will  you  teach  your  children  that 
there  is  no  guilt  in  murder?  Will  you  instruct  them  to 
think  lightly  of  duelling,  and  train  them  up  to  destroy  or  be 
destroyed  in  the  bloody  field  ?  Will  you  bestow  your  suf- 
frage, when  you  know  that  by  withholding  it  you  may  arrest 
this  deadly  evil — when  this  too  is  the  only  way  in  which  it 


beeciier's  sermon.  131 

can  be  done,  and  when  the  present  is  perhaps  the  only  peri- 
od in  which  resistance  can  avail — when  the  remedy  is  so 
easy,  so  entirely  in  your  power ;  and  when  God,  if  you  do 
not  punish  these  guilty  men,  will  most  inevitably  punish 
you? 

If  the  widows  and  the  orphans,  which  this  wasting  evil 
has  created  and  is  yearly  multiplying,  might  all  stand  before 
you,  could  you  witness  their  tears,  or  listen  to  their  details 
of  anguish?  Should  they  point  to  the  murderers  of  their 
fathers,  their  husbands,  and  their  children,  and  lift  up  their 
voice,  and  implore  your  aid  to  arrest  an  evil  which  had  made 
them  desolate,  could  you  disregard  their  cry  ?  Before  their 
eyes  could  you  approach  the  poll,  and  patronize  by  your 
vote  the  destroyers  of  their  peace  ?  Had  you  beheld  a  dy- 
ing  father  conveyed  bleeding  and  agonizing  to  his  distracted 
family,  had  you  heard  their  piercing  shrieks  and  witnessed 
their  frantic  agony  ;  would  you  reward  the  savage  man  who 
had  plunged  them  in  distress  ?  Had  the  duellist  destroyed 
your  neighbor — had  your  own  father  been  killed  by  the  man 
who  solicits  your  suffrage — had  your  son,  laid  low  by  his 
hand,  been  brought  to  your  door  pale  in  death  and  weltering 
in  blood — would  you  then  think  the  crime  a  small  one  ? 
Would, you  honor  with  your  confidence,  and  elevate  to  pow- 
er by  your  vote,  the  guilty  monster?  And  what  would  you 
think  of  your  neighbors,  if,  regardless  of  your  agony,  they 
should  reward  him  ?  And  yet,  such  scenes  of  unutterable 
anguish  are  multiplying  every  year.  Every  year  the  duel- 
list is  cutting  down  the  neighbor  of  somebody.  Every  year, 
and  many  times  in  the  year,  a  father  is  brought  dead  or  dy- 
ing to  his  family,  or  a  son  laid  breathless  at  the  feet  of  his 
parents  ;  and  every  year  you  are  patronizing  by  your  votes 
the  men  who  commit  these  crimes,  and  looking  with  cold 
indifference  upon,  and  even  mocking,  the  sorrows  of  your 
neighbors.  Beware — I  admonish  you  to  beware,  and  espe- 
cially such  of  you  as  have  promising  sons  preparing  for  ac- 
tive life,  lest,  having  no  feeling  for  the  sorrows  of  another, 


132  beecuer's  sermox. 

you  be  called  to  weep  for  your  own  sorrow  ;  lest  your  sons 
fall  by  the  hand  of  the  very  murderer  for  whom  you  vote, 
or  by  the  hand  of  some  one  whom  his  example  has  trained 
to  the  work  of  blood. 

With  such  considerations  before  you,  why  do  you  wish  to 
vote  for  such  men  ?  What  have  they  done  for  you,  what 
can  they  do,  that  better  men  cannot  as  happily  accomplish  ? 
And  will  you  incur  all  this  guilt,  and  hazard  all  these  con- 
sequences for  nothing?  Have  you  no  religion,  no  con- 
science, no  love  to  your  country,  no  attachment  to  liberty, 
no  humanity,  no  sympathy,  no  regard  to  your  own  welfare 
in  this  hfe,  and  no  fear  of  consequences  in  the  life  to  come  ? 
Oh,  my  countrymen,  awake !  Awake  to  crimes  which  are 
your  disgrace — to  miseries  which  know  not  a  limit — to 
judgments  which  will  make  you  desolate. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SERMON, 

ON  THE  PR-ICTICALNESS  OF  A  REFORM  IN  MORALS. 

BY  LYMAN  BEECHER,  D.  D. 

We  are  to  consider  some  of  the  motives  which  should  an- 
imate  the  mse  and  the  good  to  make  immediate  and  vigo- 
rous exertion  for  the  reformation  of  morals,  and  the  preser- 
vation of  our  laws  and  institutions. 

And  certainly,  the  importance  of  the  interest  in  jeopardy 
demands  our  first  and  most  serious  regard. 

If  we  consider  only  the  temporal  prosperity  of  the  nation^ 
the  interest  is  the  most  important  earthly  interest  that  ever 
called  forth  the  enterprise  of  man.  No  other  portion  of  the 
human  race  ever  commenced  a  national  existence  as  we 
commenced  ours.  Our  very  beginning  was  civiUzed,  learn- 
ed and  pious.  The  sagacious  eye  of  our  ancestors  looked 
far  down  the  vale  of  time.  Their  benevolence  laid  founda- 
tions, and  reared  superstructures,  for  the  accommodation  of 
distant  generations.  Through  peril,  and  tears,  and  blood, 
they  procured  the  inheritance,  which,  with  many  prayers, 
they  bequeathed  unto  us.  It  ha«  descended  in  an  unbroken 
line.  It  is  now  in  our  possession  impaired  indeed  by  our 
folly,  perverted  and  abused,  but  still  the  richest  inheritance 
which  the  mercy  of  God  contimies  to  the  troubled  earth. 
Nowhere  beside,  if  you  search  the  world  over,  will  you  find 
so  much  real  liberty  ;  so  much  equality  ;  so  much  personal 
safety,  and  temporal  prosperity  ;  so  general  an  extension 
of  useful  knowledge  ;  so  much  religious  instruction ;  so  much 
moral  restraint ;  and  so  much  divine  mercv,  to  make  these 
12 


134  beeciier's  sermon, 

blessings  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto 
salvation.  Shall  we  throw  away  this  precious  bequest  ? 
Shall  we  surrender  our  laws  and  liberties,  our  religion  and 
morals,  our  social  and  domestic  blessings,  to  the  first  inva- 
der? Shall  we  despair  and  die  of  fear,  without  an  effort  to 
avert  our  doom?  What  folly  !  what  infatuation  !  what  mad- 
ness to  do  so !  With  Avhat  indignation,  could  indignation 
be  in  heaven,  would  our  fathers  look  down  upon  the  deed. 
With  what  lamentation,  could  tears  be  in  heaven,  would  they 
weep  over  it.  With  what  loud  voices,  could  they  speak  to 
us  from  heaven,  would  they  beseech  their  degenerate  chil- 
dren to  put  their  trust  in  God,  and  contend  earnestly  for 
those  precious  institutions  and  laws  for  which  they  toiled 
and  blod. 

2.  If  we  do  not  awake  and  engage  vigorously  in  the  work 
of  reformation,  it  will  soon  be  too  late. 

Though  reformation  be  always  practicable  if  a  people  are 
disposed  to  reform,  there  is  a  point  of  degradation  from 
which  neither  individuals  nor  nations  are  disposed  to  arise, 
and  from  which  the  Most  High  is  seldom  disposed  to  raise 
them.  When  irreligion  and  vice  shall  have  contaminated 
the  mass  of  the  people,  when  the  majority,  emancipated 
from  civil  and  moral  restraint,  shall  be  disposed  to  set  aside 
the  laws  and  institutions  and  habits  of  their  fathers,  then  in- 
deed it  may  be  feared  that  our  transgressions  and  our  sins 
will  be  upon  us,  and  that  we  shall  pine  away  and  die  in  them. 
The  means  of  preservation  passing  into  other  hands,  will 
become  the  means  of  destruction.  Talents,  and  official  in- 
fluence, and  the  power  of  legislation,  and  all  the  resources 
of  the  State  may  be  perverted  to  demolish  our  institutions, 
laws  and  usages,  until  every  vestige  of  ancient  wisdom  and 
prosperity  is  gone. 

To  this  state  of  things  we  are  hastening,  and,  if  no  effort 
be  made  to  stop  our  progress,  the  sun  in  his  course  is  not 
more  resistless  than  our  doom.  Our  vices  are  diffeinff  the 
grave  of  our  liberties,  and  preparing  to  entomb  our  glory. 


ox    MORAL    REFORM.  135 

We  may  sleep,  but  the  work  goes  on.  We  may  despise 
admonition,  but  our  destruction  slumbereth  not.  Travelling, 
and  worldly  labor,  and  visiting,  and  amusement  on  the  sab- 
bath,  will  neither  produce  nor  preserve  such  a  state  of  soci- 
et}-,  as  the  conscientious  observance  of  the  sabbath  has  help- 
ed to  produce  and  preserve  ;  the  enormous  consumption  of 
ardent  spirits  in  our  land  will  produce  neither  bodies  nor 
minds  hke  those  which  were  the  offspring  of  temperance 
and  virtue.  The  neglect  of  family  government,  and  family 
prayer,  and  the  religious  education  of  children,  will  not  pro- 
duce  such  freemen  as  were  formed  by  early  habits  of  subor- 
dination, and  the  constant  influence  of  the  fear  of  God ;  the 
neglect  of  official  duty  in  magistrates  to  execute  the  laws, 
will  not  produce  the  same  effects,  which  were  produced  by 
the  vigilance  and  fidehty  of  our  fathers,  to  restrain  and 
punish  crimes. 

Our  institutions,  civil  and  religious,  have  out-lived  that 
domestic  discipline  and  official  vigilance  in  magistrates  to 
execute  the  laws  which  rendered  obedience  easy  and  habi- 
tual. The  laws  now  are  beginning  to  operate  extensively 
upon  necks  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  and  when  they  shall 
become  irksome  to  the  majority,  their  execution  will  become 
impracticable.  To  this  situation  we  are  already  reduced  in 
some  districts  of  the  land.  Drunkards  reel  throu'di  the 
streets,  day  after  day,  and  year  after  year,  with  entire  impu- 
nity. Profane  swearing  is  heard,  and  even  by  magistrates, 
as  though  they  heard  it  not.  Efforts  to  stop  travelUng  on 
the  sabbath,  have  in  all  places  become  feeble,  and  in  many 
places,  they  have  wholly  ceased.  Informing  officers  com- 
plain that  magistrates  will  not  regard  their  informations,  and 
that  the  public  sentiment  will  not  bear  them  out  in  execut- 
ing the  laws ;  and  conscientious  men  who  dare  not  violate 
an  oath,  have  begun  to  refuse  the  office.  The  only  proper 
characters  to  sustain  it,  the  only  men  who  can  retrieve  our 
declining  state,  are  driven  into  the  back  ground,  and  their 
places  filled  with   men  of  easy  conscience,  who  will  either 


136 


BEECIIER^S    SEKMO:^, 


do  nothing,  or  by  their  own  example  help  on  the  ruin.  TTk? 
public  conscience  is  becoming  caUous  by  the  frequency  and 
impunity  of  crimes.  The  sin  of  violating  the  sabbath  is  be- 
coming  in  the  public  estimation  a  little  sin,  and  the  shame  of 
it,  nothing.  The  disgrace  is  divided  among  so  many,  that 
none  regard  it.  The  sabbath  is  trodden  down  by  a  host  of 
men,  whom  shame  alone,  in  better  days,  would  have  deterred 
entirely  from  this  sin.  In  the  mean  time,  many,  who  lament 
these  evils,  are  augmenting  them  by  predicting  that  all  is  lost, 
encouraging  the  enemy,  and  weakening  the  hands  of  the 
wise  and  good.  But  tmly,  we  do  stand  on  the  confines  of 
destruction.  The  mass  is  changing.  We  are  becoming  an- 
other people.  Our  habits  have  held  us,  long  after  those 
moral  causes  which  formed  them  have  in  a  great  degree 
ceased  to  operate.  These  habits,  at  length,^  are  giving  way. 
So  many  hands  have  so  long  been  employed  to  pull  away 
foundations,  and  so  few  to  repair  the  breaches,  that  the  build- 
ing  totters.  So  much  enterprise  has  been  displayed  in  re- 
moving  obstructions  from  the  current  of  human  depravity, 
and  so  little  to  restore  them,  that  the  stream  at  length  is  be- 
ginning to  run.  It  may  be  stopped  now,  but  it  will  soon  be- 
come  deep,  and  broad,  and  rapid,  and  irresistible. 

The  crisis  then  has  come.  By  the  people  of  this  genera- 
tion, by  ourselves  probably,  the  amazing  question  is  to  be 
decided,  whether  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers  shall  be 
preserved,  or  thrown  away — ^\vhether  our  sabbaths  shall  be 
a  delight,  or  a  loatliing — whether  the  taverns  on  that  holv 
day,  sliall  be  crowded  with  drunkards,  or  the  sanctuary  of 
God  with  humble  worshippers — ^vhether  riot  and  profanity 
shall  fill  our  streets,  and  poverty  our  dwellings,  and  convicts 
our  jails,  and  violence  our  land ;  or  whether  industry,  and 
temperance,  and  righteousness,  shall  be  the  stability  of  our 
times — ^whether  mild  laws  shall  receive  the  cheerful  submis- 
sion  of  freemen,  or  the  iron  rod  of  a  tyrant  compel  the  trem- 
bling homage  of  slaves.  Be  not  deceived.  Human  nature 
in  this  nation  is  like  human  nature  everv  Mhere.     All  actual 


ox    MORAL    REFOKM.  137 

difference  in  our  favor  is  adventitious,  and  the  result  of  our 
laws,  institutions,  and  habits.  It  is  a  moral  influence  which, 
with  the  blessing  of  God,  has  formed  a  state  of  society  so 
eminently  desirable.  The  same  influence  which  has  form- 
ed it,  is  indispensable  to  its  preservation.  The  rocks  and 
hills  of  New  England  will  remain  till  the  last  conflagration; 
but,  let  the  sabbath  be  profaned  with  impunity,  the  worship 
of  God  be  abandoned,  the  government  and  religious  instruc- 
tion of  children  be  neglected,  and  the  streams  of  intempe- 
rance be  permitted  to  flow,  and  her  glory  will  depart.  The 
wall  of  fire  will  no  more  surround  her,  and  the  munition  of 
rocks  will  no  longer  bs  her  defence.     But, 

3.  If  we  do  neglect  our  duty,  and  suffer  our  laws  and  in- 
stitutions to  go  down,  we  give  them  up  forever.  It  is  easy 
to  relax,  easy  to  retreat,  but  impossible,  when  the  abomina- 
tion of  desolation  has  once  passed  over,  to  rear  again  the 
prostrate  altars,  and  gather  again  the  fragments,  and  build 
up  the  ruins  of  demolished  institutions.  Neither  we  nor 
our  children  shall  ever  see  another  New  England,  if  this  be 
destroyed.  All  is  lost  irretrievably  when  the  landmarks  are 
once  removed,  and  the  bands  which  now  hold  us  are  once 
broken.  Such  institutions,  and  such  a  state  of  society,  can 
be  established  only  by  such  men  as  our  fathers  were,  and  in 
such  circumstances  as  they  were.  They  could  not  have 
made  a  New  England  in  Holland.  They  made  the  attempt 
but  failed.  Nowhei'e  could  they  have  succeeded,  but  in  a 
wilderness  ;  where  they  gave  the  precepts,  and  set  the  example, 
and  made,  and  executed  the  laws.  By  vigilance,  and  prayer, 
and  exertion,  we  may  defend  these  institutions,  retrieve 
much  of  what  we  have  lost,  and  perpetuate  a  better  state  of 
society  than  can  elsewhere  be  made  by  the  art  of  man.  But, 
let  the  enemy  come  in  like  a  flood,  and  overturn,  and  over, 
turn,  and  no  place  will  be  found  for  repentance,  though  it  be 
sought  carefully  with  tears. 

4.  If  we  give  up  our  laws  and  institutions,  our  guilt  and 

misery  will  be  very  great. 

12* 


138  beecher's  sekmow, 

We  shall  become  slaves,  and  slaves  to  the  worst  of  mas- 
ters. The  profane  and  the  profligate,  men  of  corrupt  minds, 
and  to  every  good  work  reprobate,  will  be  exalted  to  pollute 
us  by  their  example,  to  distract  us  by  their  folly,  and  impo- 
verish  us  by  fraud  and  rapine.  Let  loose  from  wholesome 
restraint,  and  taught  to  sin  by  the  example  of  the  great,  a 
scene  most  horrid  to  be  conceived,  but  more  dreadful  to  be 
experienced,  will  ensue.  No  people  are  more  fitted  to  de- 
struction, if  they  go  to  destruction,  than  we  ourselves.  All 
the  daring  enterprise  of  our  countrymen  emancipated  from 
moral  restraint,  will  become  the  desperate  daring  of  unre- 
strained sin.  Should  we  break  the  bands  of  Christ,  and 
cast  his  cords  from  us,  and  begin  the  work  of  self-destruc- 
tion, it  will  be  urged  on  with  a  malignant  enterprise  which 
has  no  parallel  in  the  annals  of  time ;  and  be  attended  with 
miseries,  such  as  the  sun  has  never  looked  upon. 

/The  hand  that  overturns  our  laws  and  altars  is  the  hand 
of  death  unbarring  the  gate  of  Pandemonium,  and  letting 
/loose  upon  our  land  the  crimes  and  the  miseries  of  hell. 
Even  if  the  Most  High  should  stand  aloof,  and  cast  not  a 
single  ingredient  into  our  cup  of  trembling,  it  would  seem  to 
be  full  of  superlative  wo.  But  he  will  not  stand  aloof.  As 
we  shall  have  begun  an  open  controversy  with  him,  he  will 
contend  openly  with  us  ;  and  never,  since  the  earth  stood, 
has  it  been  so  fearful  a  thing  for  nations  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  living  God.  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his 
heart — the  day  of  judgment  has  come — the  great  earthquake 
which  is  to  sink  Babylon  is  shaking  the  nations,  and  the 
waves  of  the  mighty  commotion  are  dashing  upon  every 
shore.  Is  this,  then,  a  time  to  remove  foundations,  when 
the  earth  itself  is  shaken  ?  Is  this  a  time  to  forfeit  the  pro- 
tection  of  God,  when  the  hearts  of  men  are  failing;  them  for 
fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on 
the  earth  ?  Is  this  a  time  to  run  upon  his  neck,  and  the 
thick  bosses  of  his  buckler,  when  the  nations  are  drinking 
blood,  and  fainting,  and  passing  away  in  his  wrath  ?    Is  this 


ox   MORAL   REFOUM.  139 

a  time  to  throw  away  the  shield  of  iaith,  when  his  anovs 
are  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  ;  to  cut  from  the  an- 
chor  of  hope,  when  the  clouds  are  collecting,  and  the  sea 
and  the  waves  are  roaring,  and  thunders  are  uttering  their 
voices,  and  lightnings  blazing  in  the  heavens,  and  the  great 
hail  is  falling  from  heaven  upon  men,  and  every  mountain, 
sea,  and  island  is  fleeing  in  dismay  from  the  face  of  an  in- 
censed  God  1 

5.  The  judgments  of  God  which  we  feel,  and  those  which 
impend,  call  for  immediate  repentance  and  reformation. 
Our  country  has  never  seen  such  a  day  as  this.  By  our  sins 
we  are  fitted  to  destruction.  God  has  begun  in  earnest, 
his  work,  his  strange  work,  of  national  desolation.  For 
many  years  the  ordinary  gains  of  industry  have,  to  a  great 
extent,  been  cut  off.  The  counsels  of  the  nation  have  by  one 
part  of  it  been  deemed  infatuation,  and  by  the  other  part 
oracular  wisdom ;  while  the  action  and  reaction  of  parties 
have  shaken  our  institutions  to  their  foundations,  debased 
our  morals,  and  awakened  animosities  which  expose  us  to 
dismemberment  and  all  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  But  for  all 
this  his  anger  is  not  turned  away,  but  his  hand  is  stretched 
out  still.  On  our  seaboard,  are  the  alarms  and  the  plagues 
of  war.  On  our  frontiers  is  heard  the  trumpet  of  alarm 
mingling  with  the  war-whoop  of  the  savage,  and  the  cries 
and  dying  groans  of  murdered  families.  In  the  south,  a 
volcano  whose  raging  fires  and  murmuring  thunders  have 
long  been  suppressed,  is  now  with  loud  admonition  threat- 
ening an  eruption.  In  the  midst  of  these  calamities  the 
anwel  of  God  has  received  commission  to  unsheath  his 
sword,  and  extend  far  and  wide  the  work  of  death.  The 
little  child  and  the  blooming  youth,  the  husband  and  the 
wife,  men  of  talents  and  usefulness,  the  ministers  of  tjie 
sanctuary  and  the  members  of  the  church  of  God,  bow  be- 
fore the  stroke,  and  sink  to  the  grave.  That  dreadful  tem- 
pest, the  sound  of  which,  till  late,  was  heard  only  from  afar 
as  it  was  borne  across  the  Atlantic,  has  at  length  begun  to 


140  beecher's  sermox, 

beat  upon  us,  and  those  mighty  burnings,  the  smoke  of  which 
we  have  hitherto  beheld  from  afar,  have  begun  in  our  nation 
their  devouring  course.  Nothing  can  avert  the  tempest, 
and  nothing  can  extinguish  our  burning,  but  repentance 
and  reformation ;  for  it  is  the  tempest  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
and  the  fire  of  his  indignation. 

6.  Our  advantages  to  achieve  a  reformation  of  morals  are 
great,  and  will  render  our  guilt  and  punishment  proportion- 
ably  aggravated,  if  we  neglect  to  avail  oui'selves  of  them. 

We  are  not  yet  undone.  The  harvest  is  not  past ;  the 
summer  is  not  ended.  Tliere  is  yet  remaining  much  health 
and  strength,  in  many  parts  of  our  land.  This  State  espe- 
cially, is  by  its  laws  thoroughly  furnished  to  every  good 
work.  Let  our  laws  be  executed,  and  we  may  live  for  ever. 
Nor  is  their  execution  to  be  despaired  of.  In  every  town  in 
the  State  the  majority  of  the  population  are  decidedly  op- 
posed, it  is  believed,  to  those  immoral  practices  which  our 
laws  condemn.  And  in  most  towns  and  societies,  it  is  a 
small  minority  who  corrupt  with  impunity  the  public  morals. 
Let  the  friends  of  virtue,  then,  express  their  opinions,  and 
unite  their  influence,  and  the  laws  can  be  executed.  Crimes 
will  become  disgraceful,  and  the  non-execution  of  the  laws 
more  hazardous  to  popularity  than  their  faithful  execution. 
The  friends  of  good  morals  and  good  government,  have  it 
yet  in  their  power  to  create  a  public  opinion  which  nothing 
can  resist.  The  wicked  are  bold  in  appearance,  but  they 
are  cowards  at  heart ;  their  threats  and  boasting  are  loud, 
but  they  ai-e  "vox  et  preterea  nihil."  God  is  against  them 
— their  own  consciences  are  against  them — the  laws  are 
against  them — and  let  only  the  pubUc  opinion  be  arrayed 
against  them,  and  five  shall  chase  a  thousand,  and  an  hun- 
dred shallput  ton  thousand  to  flight. 

It  is  not  as  if  we  were  called  upon  to  make  new  laws,  and 
establish  usages  unknown  before.  We  make  no  innovation. 
We  embark  in  no  novel  experiment.  We  set  up  no  new 
standard  of  morals.     We  encroach  upon  no  man's  liberty. 


ON    MORAL    REFORM.  141 

We  lord  it  over  no  man's  conscience.  We  stand  upon  the 
defensive  merely.  We  contend  for  our  altars  and  our  fire- 
eides.  We  rally  around  the  standard  which  our  father's 
reared^  and  our  motto  is,  'the  iniieritaxce  which  they 

BEUUEATHED,  NO  MAX    SHALL  TAKE  FROM    US.'       Thc  CXCCU- 

tive,  legislative,  and  judicial  departments  of  thc  government 
are  in  the  hands  of  men,  who,  we  doubt  not,  will  lend  to  the 
work  of  reformation  their  example,  their  prayers,  their 
weight  of  character,  official  influence,  and  their  active  co- 
operation. And  will  not  the  clergy,  and  christian  churches, 
of  all  denominations,  array  themselves  on  the  side  of  good 
morals  and  the  laws  ?  Will  they  not  like  a  band  of  brothers, 
and  terrible  to  the  wicked  as  an  army  with  banners,  contend 
earnestly  for  the  precepts  of  the  gospel  ?  If  with  sucli 
means  of  self-preservation,  we  pine  away  and  die  in  our 
sins,  we  shall  deserve  to  die  ;  and  our  death  will  be  dreadful. 

7.  But,  were  our  advantages  fewer  than  they  are,  the 
Lord  will  be  on  our  side  and  will  bless  us,  if  we  repent  and 
endeavor  to  do  our  duty. 

He  commands  us  to  repent  and  reform,  and  what  he  com- 
mands  his  people  to  do,  he  will  help  them  to  accomplish  if 
they  make  the  attempt.  He  has  promised  to  help  tliem. 
He  always  has  given  efficacy,  more  or  less,  to  the  faithful 
exertions  of  men  to  do  good.  At  the  present  time,  in  a  pe- 
culiar manner  does  he  smile  upon  every  essay  to  do  good. 
Not  a  finger  is  lifted  in  vain  in  any  righteous  cause,  the 
result  of  every  enterprise  surpasses  expectation,  the  grain 
of  mustard  becomes  a  tree,  the  little  leaven  leavens  the 
lump.  The  voice  of  providence  now  is,  "  In  the  morning 
sow  thy  seed,  and  in  the  evening  withhold  not  thy  hand,  for 
this  and  that  shall  both  prosper."  The  God  in  whose  help  we 
confide  is  also  our  fathers'  God,  who  remembers  mercy  to 
the  thousandth  generation  of  them  that  fear  him,  and  keep 
his  commandments.  Within  the  broad  circumference  of 
this  covenant  we  stand,  and  neither  few  nor  obscure  arc  the 
indications  of  his  mercy  in  the  inidst  of  wrath. 


142  BEECHER's    SER5I0X, 

8.  The  woi-k  of  reformation  is  already,  it  may  be  hoped , 
auspiciously  begun. 

Though  in  some  things  there  is'ia  fearful  declension  of 
morals,  which  if  not  arrested,  will  inevitably  destroy  us; 
yet  it  ought  to  be  gratefully  acknowledged,  that  in  some  re- 
spects, our  moral  state  has  for  a  considerable  period  been 
growing  better.  The  progress  of  civilization  and  religion 
has  softened  the  manners  of  the  people,  and  banished  to  a 
great  extent,  that  violence  of  passion  which  ended  in  broils 
and  law  suits.  Those  indecencies  also,  which  too  often  pol- 
luted the  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  and  warred  upon  the  best 
interests  of  society,  have  to  a  great  extent,  given  place  to 
habits  of  refinement  and  virtuev.'  Though  at  this  time  there 
be  heresies,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be  manifest ; 
there  has  never  been  in  this  state,  perhaps  never  in  the  nation, 
a  more  extensive  prevalence  of  evangelical  doctrine.  Great 
efforts  have  been  made  also,  and  with  signal  success,  to  raise 
up  a  learned  and  pious  ministry  for  the  churches,  from  which, 
in  time,  a  great  reforming  influence  may  be  expected  :  for 
the  morals  of  a  nation  will  ever  hold  a  close  alliance  with  the 
talents  and  learning,  the  piety  and  orthodoxy,  of  its  clergy. 
The  number  of  pious  persons  has,  in  the  course  of  fifteen 
years,  been  greatly  increased,  and  has  been  attended  with  a 
more  than  correspondent  increase  of  prayer.  Those  local 
weekly  associations  for  prayer  which  are  now  spread  over 
our  land,  are,  most  of  them,  of  comparatively  recent  origin. 

In  perfect  accordance  with  this  increased  spirit  of  prayer, 
has  been  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  revival  of 
religion.  These  revivals  have  been  numerous,  great  and 
glorious ;  and,  blessed  be  God,  they  still  prevail.  Their 
reforming  influence  has"  been  salutary  beyond  expression. 
Wherever  they  have  existed,  they  have  raised  up  the  founda- 
tions of  many  generations.  They  have  done  more  than  all 
other  causes  to  arrest  our  general  decline,  and  are  this  mo- 
ment turning  back  the  captivity  of  our  land.  The  churches 
under  their  renovating  influence,  are  beginning  to  maintain 


r,y    MORAL    KEFOKM.  143 

a  more  efficient  discipline,  and  to  superintend  with  more 
fidelity  the  rchgioiis  education  of  their  baptized  children. 
The  principles  of  infidel  philosophy  with  respect  to  civil 
government,  and  the  government  and  religious  education  of 
children,  have  it  is  hoped  had  their  day,  and  are  retiring  to 
to  their  own  place,  succeeded  happily,  by  the  maxims  of  reve- 
lation and  common  sense. 

The  missionary  spirit  which  is  beginning  to  pervade  our 
land,  promises  also,  an  auspicious  reforming  influence.  It 
teaches  us  to  appreciate  more  justly  our  own  religious  privi- 
leges, and  calls  off'the  hearts  of  thousands  from  political  and 
sectarian  bickerings,  to  unite  them  in  one  glorious  enter- 
prise of  love.  Who,  but  the  Lord  our  God,  has  created  that 
extensive  and  simultaneous  predisposition  in  the  public  mind, 
to  favor  a  work  of  reformation  ?  Who  in  this  day  of  clouds 
and  tempest,  has  opened  the  eyes  of  the  people  to  recognise 
their  dependence  upon  God,  and  his  avenging  hand  in  the 
judgments  which  they  feel,  and  turned  their  hearts  to  seek 
him  to  an  unusual  extent,  by  fasting,  and  hun)iliation,  and 
prayer?  Who,  indeed,  has  poured  out  upon  our  land,  a 
spirit  of  reformation  as  real,  if  not  yet  as  universal,  as  the 
spirit  of  missions?  The  fact  is  manifest  from  the  zeal  of  in- 
dividuals, the  reviving  fidelity  of  magistrates  in  various 
places,  the  addresses  of  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  general  and  local  associations  to  suppress  crimes, 
and  support  the  laws  and  institutions  of  our  land. 

The  Most  High,  then,  has  begun  to  help  us.  While  his 
judgments  are  abroad,  the  nation  is  beginning  to  learn  rio-ht- 
eousness.  These  favorable  circumstances  do  by  no  means 
supersede  the  necessity  of  special  exertion;  but  they  are 
joyful  pledges  that  our  labor  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 
They  are  his  providential  voice,  announcing  that  he  is  wait- 
ing to  be  gracious  ;  and  that,  if  we  "  hearken  to  him,  ho 
will  soon  subdue  our  enemies,  and  turn  his  hand  against  our 
adversaries  ;  that  the  haters  of  the  Lord  shall  submit  them- 
selves unto  him,  but  that  our  time  shall  endure  forever." 
Therefore, 


144  beecher's  sermon, 

9.  If  we  endure  a  little  longer,  the  resources  of  the  mil- 
lenial  day  will  come  to  our  aid. 

Many  are  the  prophetic  signs  which  declare  the  rapid  ap- 
proach of  that  day.  Babylon  the  great  is  fallen.  The  false 
prophet  is  hastening  to  perdition.  That  wicked  one  hath 
appeared,  whom  the  Lord  will  destroy  by  the  breath  of  his 
mouth  and  the  brightness  of  his  coming.  The  day  of  his 
vengeance  is  wasting  the  earth.  The  last  vial  of  the  wrath 
of  God  is  running.  The  angel  having  the  everlasting  Gos- 
pel to  preach  to  men,  has  begun  his  flight ;  and,  with  trumpet 
sounding  long,  and  waxing  loud,  is  calling  to  the  nations  to 
look  unto  Jesus  and  be  saved.  Soon  will  the  responsive 
song  be  heard  from  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  as  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the 
voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunder- 
ings,  saying;  allelujah,  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth. 

On  the  confines  of  such  a  day,  shall  we  despair?  While 
its  blessed  light  is  beginning  to  shine,  shall  we  give  up  our 
laws  and  institutions,  and  sink  down  to  the  darkness  and 
torments  of  the  bottomless  pit  ? 

10.  But  considerations,  before  which  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  fade  and  are  forgotten,  call  us  to  instant  exertion  in 
the  work  of  reformation. 

Every  one  of  us  must  stand  before  the  judgment  scat  of 
Christ.  Every  one  of  us,  as  a  friend,  or  an  enemy,  •shall 
live  under  his  government  forever.  We  shall  drink  of  the 
river  of  pleasure,  or  of  the  cup  of  trembling.  We  shall  sing 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  or  lift  up  our  cries  with  the 
smoko  of  our  torment.  The  institutions  in  danger,  are  the 
institutions  of  heaven,  provided  to  aid  us  in  fleeing  from  the 
wrath  to  come.  The  laws  to  be  preserved,  are  laws  which 
have  lent  their  congenial  influence  to  the  immortal  work  of 
saving  sinners.  The  welfare  of  millions  through  eternity, 
depends,  under  God,  upon  their  preservation. 

Ye  parents — which  of  your  children  can  you  give  up  to 


ox  jioral  reform.  145 

the  miseries  of  a  profligate  life,  and  the  pangs  of  an  im|>eni- 
tent  death  ?  Which,  undone  by  your  example,  or  negligence 
or  folly,  are  you  prepared  to  meet  on  the  left  hand  of  your 
Judge  ?  Which,  if  by  a  miracle  of  mercy  you  should  ascend 
to  heaven,  can  you  leave  behind,  to  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment  ?  Call  around  you  the  dear  children  whom  God 
has  given  you,  and  look  them  o'er  and  o'er,  and,  if  among 
them  all  you  cannot  find  a  victim  to  sacrifice,  awake,  and 
with  all  diligence  uphold  those  institutions  which  the  good 
shepherd  has  provided  to  protect  and  save  them. 

My  fathers  and  brethren  who  minister  at  the  altar — the 
time  is  short.  We  must  soon  meet  our  people  at  the  bar  of 
God  ;  should  we  meet  any  of  them  undone  by  our  example, 
or  sloth,  or  unbelief,  dreadful  will  be  the  interview !  Shall 
we  not  lift  up  our  voice  as  a  trumpet,  and  do  quickly,  and 
with  all  our  might,  what  our  hands  find  to  do  ? 

Ye  magistrates  of  a  christian  land,  ye  ministers  of  God 
for  good — the  people  of  this  land,  alarmed  by  the  prevalence 
of  crimes  and  by  the  judgments  of  God,  look  up  to  you  for 
protection.  By  the  glories  and  terrors  of  the  judgment  day, 
by  the  joys  of  heaven  and  the  miseries  of  hell  they  beseech 
you,  as  the  ministers  of  God,  to  save  them  and  their  children 
from  the  dangers  of  this  untoward  generation. 

Ye  men  of  wealth  and  influence — will  ye  not  help  in  this 
great  attempt  to  reform  and  save  our  land  1  Are  not  these 
distinctions,  talents,  for  the  employment  of  which  you  must 
give  an  account  to  God ;  and  can  you  employ  them  better, 
than  to  consecrate  them  to  the  service  of  your  generation 
by  the  will  of  God  ? 

Let  me  entreat  those  unhappy  men  who  haste  to  be  rich  by 
unlawful  means,  who  thrive  by  the  vices  and  ruin  of  their 
fellow  men,  to  consider  their  end.  How  dreadful  to  you 
will  be  the  day  of  death  !  How  intolerable,  the  day  of  judg- 
ment !  How  many  broken-hearted  widows,  and  fatherless 
children,  will  then  lift  up  their  voices  to  testify  against  you. 

How  many  of  the  lost  spirits  will  ascend  from  the  world  of 

13 


146  beecher's  sermon. 

wo,  to  cry  out  against  you,  as  the  wretches  who  ministered 
to  their  lusts,  and  fitted  them  for  destruction.  In  vain  will 
you  plead  that  if  you  had  not  done  the  murderous  deed,  other 
men  would  have  done  it ;  or  that,  if  you  had  not  destroyed 
them,  they  had  still  destroyed  themselves.  If  other  men 
had  done  the  deed,  they,  and  not  you,  would  answer  for  it ; 
if  they  had  destroyed  themselves  without  your  agency,  their 
blood  would  be  upon  their  own  heads.  But  as  you  contri- 
buted voluntarily  to  their  destruction,  you  will  be  holden  as 
partakers  in  their  sin,  and  their  blood  will  be  required  at 
your  hands.  Why,  then,  will  you  traffic  in  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  men,  and  barter  away  your  souls  for  the  gains  of 
a  momentary  life  ? 

To  conclude.  Let  me  entreat  the  unhappy  men  who  are 
the  special  objects  of  legal  restraint,  to  cease  from  their  evil 
ways,  and,  by  voluntary  reformation,  supersede  the  necessity 
of  coercion  and  punishment.  Why  will  you  die  ?  What 
fearful  thing  is  there  in  heaven,  which  makes  you  flee  from 
that  world  ?  What  fascinating  object  in  hell,  that  excites 
such  frenzied  exertion  to  burst  every  band,  and  overleap 
every  mound,  and  force  your  way  downward  to  the  cham- 
bers of  death  ?  Stop,  I  beseech  you,  and  repent,  and  Jesus 
Christ  shall  blot  out  your  sins,  and  remember  your  trans- 
gressions no  more.  Stop,  and  the  host  who  follow  your  steps 
shall  turn,  and  take  hold  on  the  path  of  life.  Stop,  and  the 
wide  waste  of  sin  shall  cease,  and  the  song  of  angels  shall 
be  heard  again  ;  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest  ;  on  earth 
peace,  good  will  to  men."  Stop,  and  instead  of  wailing  with 
the  lost,  you  shall  join  the  multitudes  which  no  man  can 
number,  in  the  ascription  of  blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory, 
and  power,  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the 
Lamb,  forever  and  ever. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  ADOPTING  THE  FEDERAL  CON- 
STITUTION. 

BY  JAMES  WILSON. 


It  has  been  too  well  known — it  has  been  too  severely  felt 
— that  the  present  confederation  is  inadequate  to  the  govern- 
ment and  to  the  exigencies  of  the  United  States.  The  great 
struggle  for  liberty  in  this  country,  should  it  be  unsuccessful, 
will  probably  be  the  last  one  which  we  shall  have  for  her  ex- 
istence  and  prosperity,  in  any  part  of  the  globe.  And  it 
must  be  confessed,  that  this  struggle  has,  in  some  of  the 
stages  of  its  progress,  been  attended  with  symptoms  that 
foreboded  no  fortunate  issue.  To  the  iron  hand  of  ty- 
ranny, which  was  lifted  up  against  her,  she  manifested, 
indeed,  an  intrepid  superiority.  She  broke  in  pieces  the 
fetters  which  were  forged  for  her,  and  showed  that  she  was 
unassailable  by  force.  But  she  was  environed  by  dangers 
of  another  kind,  and  springing  from  a  very  different  source. 
While  she  kept  her  eye  steadily  fixed  on  the  efforts  of  op- 
pression, Ucentiousness  was  secretly  undermining  the  rock 
on  which  she  stood. 

Need  I  call  to  your  remembrance  the  contrasted  scenes,  of 
which  we  have  been  witnesses  ?  On  the  glorious  conclusion 
of  our  conflict  with  Britain,  what  high  expectations  were 
formed  concerning  us  by  others  ?  What  high  expectations 
did  we  form  concerning  ourselves  !  Have  those  expecta- 
tions been  realized  1  No.  What  has  been  the  cause  ? 
Did  our  citizens  lose  their  perseverance  and  magnanimity  ? 


148  Wilson's  speech  ok 

No.  Did  they  become  insensible  of  resentment  and  indig- 
nation at  any  liigh  handed  attempt,  that  might  have  been 
made  to  injure  and  enslave  them?  No.  What  then  has 
been  the  cause  ?  The  truth  is,  we  dreaded  danger  only  on 
one  side :  this  we  manfully  repelled.  But  on  another  side, 
danger,  not  less  formidable,  but  more  insidious,  stole  in  upon 
us;  and  our  unsuspicious  tempers  were  not  sufficiently  at- 
tentive, either  to  its  approach  or  to  its  operations.  Those, 
whom  foreign  strength  could  not  overpower,  have  well  nigh 
become  the  victims  of  internal  anarchy. 

If  we  become  a  little  more  particular,  we  shall  find  that  the 
foregoing  representation  is  by  no  means  exaggerated. 
When  we  had  baffled  all  the  menaces  of  foreign  power,  we 
neglected  to  establish  among  ourselves  a  government  that 
■would  ensure  domestic  vigor  and  stability.  What  was  the 
consequence?  The  commencement  of  peace  was  the  com- 
mencement of  every  disgrace  and  distress,  that  could  befall 
a  people  in  a  peaceful  state.  Devoid  of  national  power,  we 
could  not  prohibit  the  extravagance  of  our  importations,  nor 
could  we  derive  a  revenue  from  their  excess.  Devoid  of  na- 
tional importance,  we  could  not  procure  for  our  exports  a 
tolerable  sale  at  foreign  markets.  Devoid  of  national  credit, 
we  saw  our  public  securities  melt  in  the  hands  of  the  holders, 
like  snow  before  the  sun.  Devoid  of  national  dignity,  we 
could  not,  in  some  instances,  perform  our  treaties  on  our 
part  ;  and,  in  other  instances,  we  could  neither  obtain  nor 
compel  the  performance  of  them  on  the  part  of  others.  De- 
void of  national  energy,  we  could  not  carry  into  execution 
our  own  resolutions,  decisions,  or  laws. 

Shall  I  become  more  particular  still  ?  The  tedious  detail 
would  disgust  me  :  nor  is  it  now  necessary.  The  years  of 
langour  are  past.  We  have  felt  the  dishonor,  with  which 
we  have  been  covered  :  we  have  seen  the  destruction  with 
which  we  have  been  threatened.  We  have  penetrated  the 
causes  of  both,  and  when  we  have  once  discovered  them, 
we  have  begun  to  search  for  the  means  of  removing  them. 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  149 

For  the  confirmation  of  these  remarks,  I  need  only  to  appeal 
to  an  enumeration  of  facts.  The  proceedings  of  Congress, 
and  of  the  several  states,  are  replete  with  them.  They  all 
point  out  the  weakness  and  insufficiency  of  the  present  con- 
federation as  the  cause,  and  an  efficient  general  government 
as  the  only  cure  of  our  political  distempers. 

Under  these  impressions,  and  with  these  views,  was  the 
late  convention  appointed  ;  and  under  these  impressions, 
and  with  these  views,  the  late  convention  met. 

We  now  see  the  great  end  which  they  proposed  to  accom- 
plish.  It  was  to  frame,  for  the  consideration  of  their  con- 
stituents, one  federal  and  national  constitution — a  constitu- 
tion  that  would  produce  the  advantages  of  good,  and  prevent 
the  inconveniences  of  bad  government — a  constitution, 
whose  beneficence  and  energy  would  pervade  the  whole 
union,  and  bind  and  embrace  the  interests  of  every  part — a 
constitution  that  would  ensure  peace,  freedom  and  happiness, 
to  the  states  and  people  of  America. 

We  are  now  naturally  led  to  examine  the  means,  by  which 
they  proposed  to  accomplish  this  end.  This  opens  more 
particularly  to  our  view  the  important  discussion  before  us. 
But  previously  to  our  entering  upon  it,  it  will  not  be  improper 
to  state  some  general  and  leading  principles  of  government, 
which  will  receive  particular  applications  in  the  course  of 
our  investigations. 

There  necessarily  exists  in  every  government  a  power, 
from  which  there  is  no  appeal ;  and  which,  for  that  reason, 
may  be  termed  supreme,  absolute,  and  uncontrollable. 
Where  does  this  power  reside?  To  this  question,  wri- 
ters on  different  governments  will  give  different  answers. 
Sir  William  Blackstone  will  tell  you,  that  in  Britain,  the 
power  is  lodged  in  the  British  parliament ;  that  the  parlia- 
ment may  alter  the  form  of  the  government ;  and  that  its 
power  is  absolute  and  without  control.  The  idea  of  a  con- 
stitution,  limiting  and  superintending  the  operations  of  legis- 
lative authority,  seems  not  to  have  been  accurately  under- 
13* 


150  Wilson's  speech  on 

stood  in  Britain.  There  are,  at  least,  no  traces  of  practice, 
conformable  to  such  a  principle.  The  British  constitution 
is  just  what  the  British  parliament  pleases.  When  the  par- 
liament transferred  legislative  authority  to  Henry  the  eighth, 
the  act  transferi'ing  it  could  not,  in  the  strict  acceptation  of 
the  term,  be  called  unconstitutional. 

To  control  the  power  and  conduct  of  the  legislature  by  an 
overruling  constitution,  was  an  improvement  in  the  science 
and  practice  of  government  reserved  to  the  American  States, 
Perhaps  some  politician,  who  has  not  considered,  with 
sufficient  accuracy ,*our  political  systems,  would  answer,  that, 
in  our  governments,  the  supreme  power  is  vested  in  the 
constitutions.  This  opinion  approaches  a  step  nearer  to 
the  ti'uth,  but  does  not  reach  it.  The  truth  is,  that,  in  our 
governments,  the  supreme,  absolute,  and  uncontrollable  pow- 
er remains  in  the  people.  As  our  constitutions  are  superior 
to  our  legislatures  ;  so  the  people  are  superior  to  our  consti- 
tutions. Indeed,  the  superiority,  in  this  last  instance,  is 
much  greater  ;  for  the  people  possess,  over  our  constitu- 
tions, control  in  act,  as  well  as  in  right. 

The  consequence  is,  that  the  people  may  change  the  con- 
stitutions, whenever  and  however  they  please.  This  is  a 
right,  of  which  no  positive  institution  can  ever  deprive  them. 
These  important  truths,  sir,  are  far  from  being  merely 
speculative :  we,  at  this  moment,  speak  and  deliberate  un- 
der their  immediate  and  beuign  influence.  To  the  operation 
of  these  truths,  we  are  to  ascribe  the  scene,  hitherto  unpar- 
allelled,  which  America  now  exhibits  to  the  world — a  gentle, 
a  peaceful,  a  voluntary,  and  a  deliberate  transition  from  one 
constitution  of  government  to  another.  In  other  parts  of 
the  world,  the  idea  of  revolutions  in  government  is,  by  a 
mournful  and  indissoluble  association,  connected  with  the 
idea  of  wars,  and  all  the  calamities  attendant  on  wars. 
But  happy  experience  teaches  us  to  view  such  revolutions 
in  a  very  different  light — to  consider  them  only  as  progres- 


THE    FEDERAL    COIVSTITUTIOX.  151 

sive  steps  in  improving  tlio  knowledge  of  government,  and 
increasing  the  happiness  of  society  and  mankind. 

Oft  have  I  viewed  with  silent  pleasure  and  admiration, 
the  force  and  prevalence,  through  the  United  States,  of  this 
principle — that  the  supreme  power  resides  in  the  people ; 
and  that  they  never  part  with  it.  It  may  be  called  the  pana- 
cea  in  politics.  There  can  be  no  disorder  in  the  community 
but  may  here  receive  a  radical  cure.  If  the  error  be  in  the 
legislature,  it  may  be  corrected  by  the  constitution ;  if  in 
the  constitution,  it  may  be  corrected  by  the  people.  There 
is  a  remedy,  therefore,  for  every  distemper  in  government, 
if  the  people  are  not  wanting  to  themselves.  For  a  people 
Avanting  to  themselves,  there  is  no  remedy  :  from  their  pow- 
er, as  we  have  seen,  there  is  no  appeal :  to  their  error,  there 
is  no  superior  principle  of  correction. 

There  are  three  simple  species  of  government — monarchy, 
where  the  supreme  power  is  in  a  single  person — aristocracy, 
where  the  supreme  power  is  in  a  select  assembly,  the  members 
of  which  either  fill  up,  by  election,  the  vacancies  in  their 
own  body,  or  succeed  to  their  places  in  it  by  inheritance, 
property,  or  in  respect  of  some  personal  right  or  qualification 
— a  republic  or  democracy,  where  the  people  at  large  retain 
the  supreme  power,  and  act  either  collectively  or  by  repre- 
sentation. Each  of  these  species  of  government  has  its  ad- 
vantages  and  disadvantages. 

The  advantages  of  a  monarchy  are,  strength,  despatch, 
secrecy,  unity  of  counsel.  Its  disadvantages  are,  tyranny, 
expense,  ignorance  of  the  situation  and  wants  of  the  people, 
insecurity,  unnecessary  wars,  evils  attending  elections  or 
successions. 

The  advantage  of  aristocracy  is,  wisdom,  arising  from 
experience  and  education.  Its  disadvantages  are,  dissen- 
sions among  themselves,  oppression  to  the  lower  orders. 

The  advantages  of  democracy  are,  liberty,  equal,  cau- 
tious and  salutary  laws,  public  spirit,  frugality,  peace,  oppor- 
tunities of  exciting  and  producing  the  abilities  of  the  best 


152  Wilson's  speech. 

citizens.  Its  disadvantages  are,  dissensions,  the  delay  and 
disclosure  of  public  counsels,  the  imbecility  of  public  mea- 
sures retarded  by  the  necessity  of  a  numerous  consent. 

A  government  may  be  composed  of  two  or  more  of  the 
simple  forms  above  mentioned.  Such  is  the  British  govern, 
ment.  It  would  be  an  improper  government  for  the  United 
States  ;  because  it  is  inadequate  to  such  an  extent  of  terri- 
tory ;  and  because  it  is  suited  to  an  establishment  of  diffe- 
rent orders  of  men.  A  more  minute  comparison  between 
some  parts  of  the  British  constitution,  and  some  parts  of  the 
plan  before  us,  may,  perhaps,  find  a  proper  place  in  a  subse- 
quent period  of  our  business. 

What  is  the  nature  and  kind  of  that  government,  which 
has  been  proposed  for  the  United  States,  by  the  late  conven- 
tionj  In  its  principle,  it  is  purely  democratical  :  but  that 
principle  is  applied  in  different  forms,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
advantages,  and  exclude  the  inconveniences  of  the  simple 
modes  of  government. 

If  we  take  an  extended  and  accurate  view  of  it,  we  shall 
find  the  streams  of  power  running  in  different  directions,  in 
different  dimensions,  and  at  different  heights,  watering, 
adorning,  and  fertilizing  the  fields  and  meadows,  through 
which  their  courses  are  led ;  but  if  we  trace  them,  we  shall 
discover,  that  they  all  originally  flow  from  one  abundant 
fountain.     In  this  constitution,  all  authority  is  derived  from 

THE    TEOPLE. 

Fit  occasions  will  hereafter  offer  for  particular  remarks 
on  the  different  parts  of  the  plan.  I  have  now  to  ask  pardon 
of  the  house  for  detaining  them  so  long. 


EXTRACT    FilOM    A   SPEECH, 

ON  THE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  ADOPTING  THE  FEDERAL  CON- 
STITUTION. 

BY  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

-^^^ 

Sir,  we  hear  constantly  a  great  deal,  which  is  rather  cal- 
culated to  awake  our  passions,  and  create  prejudices,  than 
to  conduct  us  to  the  truth,  and  teach  us  our  real  interests. 
I  do  not  suppose  this  to  be  the  design  of  the  gentlemen. 
Why  then  are  we  told  so  often  of  an  aristocracy  ?  For  my 
part,  I  hardly  know  the  meaning  of  this  word  as  it  is  applied. 
If  all  we  hear  be  true,  this  government  is  really  a  very  bad 
one.  But  who  are  the  aristocracy  among  us  ?  Where  do 
we  find  men,  elevated  to  a  perpetual  rank  above  their  fellow- 
citizens  ;  and  possessing  powers  entirely  independent  of 
them  ?  The  arguments  of  the  gentlemen  only  go  to  prove 
that  there  are  men  who  are  rich,  men  who  are  poor  ;  some 
who  are  wise,  and  others  who  are  not.  That  indeed  every 
distinguished  man  is  an  aristocrat.  This  reminds  me  of  a 
description  of  the  aristocrats,  I  have  seen  in  a  late  publica- 
tion,  styled  the  Federal  Farmer.  The  author  reckons  in  the 
aristocracy,  all  governors  of  states,  members  of  congress, 
chief  magistrates,  and  all  officers  of  the  militia.  This  de- 
scription, I  presume  to  say,  is  ridiculous.  The  image  is  a 
phantom.  Does  the  new  government  render  a  rich  man 
more  eligible  than  a  poor  one  ?  No.  It  requires  no  such 
qualification.  It  is  bottomed  on  the  broad  and  equal  prin- 
ciple  of  your  state  constitution. 

Sir,  if  the  people  have  it  in  their  option,  to  elect  their 


154  Hamilton's  speech  on 

most  meritorious  men,  is  this  to  b3  considered  as  an  objec- 
tion ?  Shall  the  constitution  oppose  their  wishes,  and  abridge 
their  most  invahiable  privilege  ?  While  property  continues 
to  be  pretty  equally  divided,  and  a  considerable  share  of  in- 
formation  pervades  the  community,  the  tendency  of  the 
people's  suffrages,  will  be  to  elevate  merit  even  from  obscu- 
rity. As  riches  increase,  and  accumulate  in  few  hands  ;  as 
luxury  prevails  in  society,  virtue  will  be  in  a  greater  degree 
considered  as  only  a  graceful  appendage  of  wealth,  and  the 
tendency  of  things  will  be  to  depart  from  the  republican 
standard.  This  is  the  real  disposition  of  human  nature  :  it 
is  what  neither  the  honorable  member  nor  myself  can  cor- 
rect ;  it  is  a  common  misfortune,  that  awaits  our  state  con- 
stitution, as  well  as  all  others. 

There  is  an  advantage  incident  to  large  districts  of  elec- 
tion, which  perhaps  the  gentlemen,  amidst  all  their  appre- 
hensions of  influence  and  bribery,  have  not  adverted  to.  In 
large  districts,  the  corruption  of  the  electors  is  much  more 
difficult.  Combinations  for  the  purposes  of  intrigue  are  less 
easily  formed  :  factions  and  cabals  are  little  known.  In  a 
small  district,  wealth  will  have  a  more  complete  influence  ; 
because  the  people  in  the  vicinity  of  a  great  man,  are  more 
immediately  his  dependants,  and  because  this  influence  has 
fewer  objects  to  act  upon.  It  has  been  remarked,  that  it 
would  be  disagreeable  to  the  middle  class  of  men  to  go  to  the 
seat  of  the  new  government.  If  this  be  so,  the  difficulty 
will  be  enhanced  by  the  gentleman's  proposal.  If  his  argu- 
ment be  true,  it  proves,  that  the  larger  the  representation  is, 
the  less  will  be  your  choice  of  having  it  filled.  But,  it  ap. 
pears  to  me  frivolous  to  bring  forward  such  arguments  as 
these.  It  has  answered  no  other  purpose,  than  to  induce 
me,  by  way  of  reply,  to  enter  into  discussions,  which  I  con- 
sider as  useless,  and  not  applicable  to  our  subject. 

It  is  a  harsh  doctrine,  that  men  grow  wicked  in  propor- 
tion as  they  improve  and  enlighten  their  minds.  Experi- 
ence has  by  no  means  justified  us  in  the  supposition,  that 


TUE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTIOX.  155 

there  is  more  virtue  in  one  class  of  men  than  in  another. 
Look  through  the  rich  and  the  poor  of  the  community  ;  the 
learned  and  the  ignorant.  Where  does  virtue  predominate  ? 
The  difference  indeed  consists,  not  in  the  quantity  but  kind 
of  vices,  which  are  incident  to  various  classes  ;  and  here  the 
advantage  of  character  belongs  to  the  wealthy.  Their  vi- 
ces are  probably  more  favorable  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
state,  than  those  of  the  indigent,  and  partake  less  of  moral 
depravity. 

After  all,  sir,  we  must  submit  to  this  idea,  that  the  true 
principle  of  a  republic  is,  that  the  people  should  choose 
whom  they  please  to  govern  them.  Representation  is  im- 
perfect, in  proportion  as  the  current  of  popular  favor  is 
checked.  This  great  source  of  free  government,  popular 
election,  should  be  perfectly  pure,  and  the  most  unbounded 
liberty  allowed.  Where  this  principle  is  adhered  to  ;  where, 
in  the  organization  of  the  government,  the  legislative,  exec- 
utive and  judicial  branches  are  rendered  distinct ;  where 
again  the  legislative  is  divided  into  separate  houses,  and  the 
operations  of  each  are  controlled  by  various  checks  and  ba- 
lances, and  above  all,  by  the  vigilance  and  weight  of  the 
state  governments ;  to  talk  of  tyranny,  and  the  subversion 
of  our  liberties,  is  to  speak  the  language  of  enthusiasm. 
This  balance  between  the  national  and  state  governments 
ought  to  be  dwelt  on  with  peculiar  attention,  as  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance.  It  forms  a  double  security  to  the  peo- 
ple. If  one  encroaches  on  their  rights,  they  will  find  a 
powerful  protection  in  the  other.  Indeed,  they  will  both  be 
prevented  from  overpassing  their  constitutional  limits,  by  a 
certain  rivalship,  which  will  ever  subsist  betw>een  them.  I 
am  persuaded,  that  a  firm  union  is  as  necessary  to  perpetu- 
ate our  liberties,  as  it  is  to  make  us  respectable ;  and  expe- 
rience will  probably  prove,  that  the  national  government 
will  be  as  natural  a  guardian  of  our  freedom,  as  the  state 
legislatures  themselves. 

Suggestions,  sir,  of  an  extraordinary  nature,  have  been 


156  Hamilton's  speech  ok 

frequently  thi'own  out  in  the  course  of  the  present  political 
controversy.  It  gives  me  pain  to  dwell  on  topics  of  this 
kind  ;  and  I  wish  they  might  be  dismissed.  We  have  been 
told,  that  the  old  confederation  has  proved  inefficacious,  only 
because  intriguing  and  powerful  men,  aiming  at  a  revolu- 
tion, have  been  for  ever  instigating  the  people,  and  render- 
ing them  disaffected  with  it.  This,  sir,  is  a  false  insinua- 
tion. The  thing  is  impossible.  1  will  venture  to  assert, 
that  no  combination  of  designing  men  vmder  Heaven,  will  be 
capable  of  making  a  government  unpopular,  which  is  in  its 
principles  a  wise  and  good  one,  and  vigorous  in  its  opera- 
tions. 

The  confederation  was  framed  amidst  the  agitation  and 
tumult  of  society.  It  was  composed  of  unsound  materials 
put  together  in  haste.  Men  of  intelligence  discovered  the 
feebleness  of  the  structure,  in  the  first  stages  of  its  existence ; 
but  the  great  body  of  the  people,  too  much  engrossed  with 
their  distresses,  to  contemplate  any  but  the  immediate  causes 
of  them,  were  ignorant  of  the  defects  of  their  constitution. 
But  when  the  dangers  of  war  were  removed,  they  saw  clear- 
ly what  they  had  suffered,  and  what  they  had  yet  to  suffer, 
from  a  feeble  form  of  government.  There  was  no  need  of 
discerning  men  to  convince  the  people  of  their  unhappy  si- 
tuation ;  the  complaint  was  co-extensive  with  the  evil,  and 
both  were  common  to  all  classes  of  the  community.  We 
have  been  told,  that  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  and  love  of  H- 
berty,  are  almost  extinguished  among  the  people  ;  and  that 
it  has  become  a  prevailing  doctrine,  that  republican  princi- 
ples ought  to  be  hooted  out  of  the  world.  Sir,  I  am  confi- 
dent  that  such  remarks  as  these  are  rather  occasioned  by 
the  heat  of  argument,  than  by  a  cool  conviction  of  their 
truth  and  justice.  As  far  as  my  experience  has  extended,  I 
have  heard  no  such  doctrine,  nor  have  I  discovered  any  di- 
minution  of  regard  for  those  rights  and  liberties,  in  defence 
of  which,  the  people  have  fought  and  suffered.  There  have 
been,  undoubtedly,  some  men  who  have  had  speculative  doubts 


THE    FEDERAL   CONSTITUTION.  157 

on  the  subject  of  government ;  but  the  principles  of  republi- 
canism are  founded  on  too  firm  a  basis  to  be  shaken  by  a 
few  speculative  and  sceptical  reasoners.     Our  error  has  been 
of  a  very  different  kind.     We  have  erred  through  excess  of 
caution,  and  a  zeal  false  and  impracticable.     Our  counsels 
have  been  destitute  of  consistency  and  stabiUty.     I  am  flat- 
tered with  a  hope,  sir,  that  we  have  now  found  a  cure  for 
the  evils  under  which  we  have  so  long  labored.     I  trust,  that 
the  proposed   constitution    affords   a  genuine  specimen  of 
representative  and  republican  government,  and  that  it  will 
answer,  in  an  eminent  degree,  all  the  beneficial  purposes  of 
society. 


14 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  EXPEDIEA'CY  OF  ADOPTING  THE  FEDERAL  CON- 
STITUTION. 

BY  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

Mk.  Chairman,  it  has  been  advanced  as  a  principle,  that 
no  government  but  a  despotism,  can  exist  in  a  very  exten- 
sive country.  This  is  a  melancholy  considei'ation  indeed. 
If  it  were  founded  on  truth,  we  ought  to  dismiss  the  idea  of 
a  republican  government,  even  for  the  state  of  New  York. 
This  idea  has  been  taken  from  a  celebrated  writer,  who, 
by  being  misunderstood,  has  been  the  occasion  of  frequent 
fallacies  in  our  reasoning  on  political  subjects.  But  the 
position  has  been  misapprehended  ;  and  its  application  is 
entirely  false  and  unwarrantable  :  it  relates  only  to  democ- 
racies, where  the  whole  body  of  the  people  meet  to  transact 
business :  and  where  representation  is  unknown.  Such 
were  a  number  of  ancient,  and  some  modern  independent 
cities.  Men  who  read  without  attention,  have  taken  these 
maxims  respecting  the  extent  of  country  ;  and,  contrary  to 
their  proper  meaning,  have  applied  them  to  republics  in  gen- 
eral. This  application  is  wrong  in  respect  to  all  represen- 
tative governments  ;  but  especially  in  relation  to  a  confed- 
eracy of  states,  in  which  the  supreme  legislature  has  only 
general  powers,  and  the  civil  and  domestic  concerns  of  the 
people  are  regulated  by  the  laws  of  the  several  states.  This 
distinction  being  kept  in  view,  all  the  difficulty  will  vanish, 
and  we  may  easily  conceive,  that  the  people  of  a  large  coun- 
try may  be  represented,  as  truly  as  those  of  a  small  one. 
An  assembly  constituted  for  general  purposes,  may  be  fully 


Hamilton's  speech.  159 

competent  to  every  federal  regulation,  without  being  too 
numerous  for  deliberate  conduct.  If  the  state  governments 
were  to  be  abolished,  the  question  would  wear  a  different 
face  :  but  this  idea  is  inadmissible.  They  are  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  system.  Their  existence  must  form  a 
leading  principle  in  the  most  perfect  constitution  we  could 
form.  I  insist,  that  it  never  can  be  the  interest  or  desire  of 
the  national  legislature,  to  destroy  the  state  governments. 
It  can  derive  no  advantage  from  such  an  event ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  would  lose  an  indispensable  support,  a  necessary 
aid  in  executing  the  laws,  and  conveying  the  influence  of 
government  to  the  doors  of  the  people.  The  union  is  de- 
pendent on  the  will  of  the  state  governments  for  its  chief 
magistrate,  and  for  its  senate.  The  blow  aimed  at-  the 
members,  must  give  a  fatal  wound  to  the  head  ;  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  states  must  be  at  once  a  political  suicide. 
Can  the  national  government  be  guilty  of  this  madness  ? 
What  inducements,  what  temptations  can  they  have  ?  Will 
they  attach  new  honors  to  their  station  ;  will  they  increase 
the  national  strength  ;  will  they  multiply  the  national  re- 
sources ;  will  they  make  themselves  more  respectable  in  the 
view  of  foreign  nations,  or  of  their  fellow-citizens,  by  rob- 
bing the  states  of  their  constitutional  privileges  ?  But  im- 
agine, for  a  moment,  that  a  political  frenzy  should  seize  the 
government  ;  suppose  they  should  make  the  attempt — cer- 
tainly,  sir,  it  would  be  for  ever  impracticable.  This  has 
been  sufficiently  demonstrated  by  reason  and  experience- 
It  has  been  proved,  that  the  members  of  republics  have  been, 
and  ever  will  be,  stronger  than  the  head.  Let  us  attend  to 
one  general  historical  example.  In  the  ancient  feudal  gov- 
ernments of  Europe,  there  were,  in  the  first  place,  a  mon- 
arch ;  subordinate  to  him,  a  body  of  nobles  ;  and  subject  to 
these,  the  vassals,  or  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  The 
authority  of  the  kings  was  limited,  and  that  of  the  barons 
considerably  independent.  A  great  part  of  the  early  wars 
in  Europe  were  contests  between  the  king  and  his  nobility. 


160  Hamilton's  speech  otc 

In  these  contests,  the  latter  possessed  many  advantages  de- 
rived from  their  influence,  and  the  immediate  command  they 
had  over  the  people  ;  and  they  generally  prevailed.  The 
history  of  the  feudal  wars  exhibits  httle  more  than  a  series 
of  successful  encroachments  on  the  prerogatives  of  monar- 
chy.  Here,  sir,  is  one  great  proof  of  the  superiority,  which 
the  members  in  limited  governments  possess  over  their 
head.  As  long  as  the  barons  enjoyed  the  confidence  and 
attachment  of  the  people,  they  had  the  strength  of  the  coun- 
try on  their  side,  and  were  irresistible.  I  may  be  told,  that 
in  some  instances  the  barons  were  overcome  :  but  how  did 
this  happen  ?  Sir,  they  took  advantage  of  the  depres- 
sion  of  the  royal  authority,  and  the  estabhshment  of  their 
own  power,  to  oppress  and  tyrannize  over  their  vassals. 
As  commerce  enlarged,  and  as  wealth  and  civilization  in- 
creased, the  people  began  to  feel  their  own  weight  and  con- 
sequence  :  they  grew  tired  of  their  oppressions  ;  united  their 
strength  with  that  of  the  prince,  and  threw  off  the  yoke  of 
aristocracy.  These  very  instances  prove  what  I  contend 
for.  They  prove,  that  in  whatever  direction  the  popular 
weight  leans,  the  current  of  power  will  flow  :  wherever  the 
popular  attachments  lie,  there  will  rest  the  political  superi- 
ority.  Sir,  can  it  be  supposed  that  the  state  governments 
will  become  the  oppressors  of  the  people  ?  Will  they  forfeit 
their  affections  ?  Will  they  combine  to  destroy  the  liberties 
and  happiness  of  their  fellow-citizens,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  involving  themselves  in  ruin  ?  God  forbid  !  The  idea, 
-sir,  is  shocking  !  It  outrages  every  feeling  of  humanity, 
and  every  dictate  of  common  sense  ! 

There  are  certain  social  principles  in  human  nature,  from 
which  we  may  draw  the  most  solid  conclusions,  with  respect 
to  the  conduct  of  individuals  and  of  communities.  We  love 
our  famiUes  more  than  our  neighbors  :  we  love  our  neiffh- 
bors  more  than  our  countrymen  in  general.  The  human 
affections,  like  the  solar  heat,  lose  their  intensity,  as  they 
depart  from  the  centre,  and  become  languid,  in  proportion 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION'.  161 

to  the  expansion  of  the  circle,  on  which  they  act.  On  these 
principles,  the  attachment  of  the  individual  will  be  first 
and  for  ever  secured  by  the  state  governments  :  they  will  be 
a  mutual  protection  and  support.  Another  source  of  influ- 
ence, which  has  already  been  pointed  out,  is  the  various 
official  connexions  in  the  states.  Gentlemen  endeavor  to 
evade  the  force  of  this,  by  saying  that  these  offices  will  be 
insignificant.  This  is  by  no  means  true.  The  state  officers 
will  ever  be  important,  because  they  are  necessary  and  use- 
ful. Their  powers  are  such  as  are  extremely  interesting  to 
the  people ;  such  as  afTect  their  property,  their  liberty  and 
life.  What  is  more  important  than  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  the  execution  of  the  civil  and  criminal  laws  ? 
Can  the  state  governments  become  insignificant,  w.hile 
they  have  the  power  of  raising  money  independently, 
and  without  control  ?  If  they  are  really  useful ;  if  they  are 
calculated  to  promote  the  essential  interests  of  the  people  ; 
they  must  have  their  confidence  and  support.  The  states 
can  never  lose  their  powers,  till  the  whole  people  of  America 
are  robbed  of  their  fiberties.  These  must  go  together  ;  they 
must  support  each  other,  or  meet  one  common  fate.  On 
the  gentlemen's  principle,  we  may  safely  trust  the  state 
governments,  though  we  have  no  means  of  resisting  them : 
but  we  cannot  confide  in  the  national  government,  though 
we  have  an  effectual  constitutional  guard  against  every 
encroachment.  This  is  the  essence  of  their  argument,  and 
it  is  false  and  fallacious  beyond  conception. 

With  regard  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  two  governments, 
I  shall  certainly  admit  that  the  constitution  ought  to  be  so 
formed,  as  not  to  prevent  the  states  from  providing  for  their 
own  existence  ;  and  I  maintain  that  it  is  so  formed  ;  and 
that  their  power  of  providing  for  themselves  is  sufficiently 
established.  This  is  conceded  by  one  gentleman,  and  in 
the  next  breath  the  concession  is  retracted.  He  says,  Con- 
gress  have  but  one  exclusive  right  in  taxation  ;  that  of  duties 
on  imports:  certainly,  then,  their  other  powers  are  only 
14*" 


162  Hamilton's  speech  on 

concurrent.  But  to  take  off  the  force  of  this  obvious  con- 
clusion, he  immediately  says,  that  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
are  supreme  ;  and  that  where  there  is  one  supreme,  there  can- 
not  be  a  concurrent  authority ;  and  further,  that  where  the 
laws  of  the  union  are  supreme,  those  of  the  states  must  be 
subordinate  ;  because,  there  cannot  be  two  supremes.  This 
is  curious  sophistry.  That  two  supreme  powers  cannot  act 
together,  is  false.  They  are  inconsistent  only  when  they 
are  aimed  at  each  other,  or  at  one  indivisible  object.  The 
laws  of  the  United  States  are  supreme,  as  to  all  their  proper, 
constitutional  objects  :  the  laws  of  the  states  are  supreme  in 
the  same  way.  These  supreme  laws  may  act  on  different 
objects,  without  clashing ;  or  they  may  operate  on  different 
parts  of  the  same  common  object,  with  perfect  harmony. 
Suppose  both  governments  should  lay  a  tax,  of  a  penny,  on 
a  certain  article  :  has  not  each  an  independent  and  uncon- 
trollable power  to  collect  its  own  tax  ?  The  meaning  of  the 
maxim,  there  cannot  be  two  supremes,  is  simply  this — two 
powers  cannot  be  supreme  over  each  other.  This  meaning 
is  entirely  perverted  by  the  gentlemen.  But,  it  is  said, 
disputes  between  collectors  are  to  be  referred  to  the  federal 
courts.  This  is  again  wandering  in  the  field  of  conjecture. 
But  suppose  the  fact  certain  :  is  it  not  to  be  presumed,  that 
they  will  express  the  true  meaning  of  the  constitution  and 
the  laws  ?  Will  they  not  be  bound  to  consider  the  concur- 
rent jurisdiction  ;  to  declare  that  both  the  taxes  shall  have 
equal  operation  ;  that  both  the  powers,  in  that  respect,  are 
sovereign  and  co-extensive?  If  they  transgress  their  duty, 
we  are  to  hope  that  they  will  be  punished.  Sir,  we  can  reason 
from  probabilities  alone.  When  we  leave  common  sense, 
and  give  ourselves  up  to  conjecture,  there  can  be  no  certain- 
ty, no  security  in  our  reasonings. 

I  imagine  I  have  stated  to  the  committee,  abundant  rea- 
sons to  prove  the  entire  safety  of  the  state  governments, 
and  of  the  people.  I  would  go  into  a  more  minute  consid- 
eration of  the  nature  of  the  concurrent  jurisdiction,  and  the 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  163 

operation  of  the  laws,  in  relation  to  revenue  ;  but  at  present, 
I  feel  too  much  indisposed  to  proceed.  I  shall,  with  the 
leave  of  the  committee,  improve  another  opportunity  of  ex- 
pressing  to  them  more  fully  my  ideas  on  this  point.  I  wish 
the  committee  to  remember,  that  the  constitution  under 
examination,  is  framed  upon  truly  republican  principles  ;  and 
that,  as  it  is  expressly  designed  to  provide  for  the  common 
protection  and  the  general  welfare  of  the  United  States,  it 
must  be  utterly  repugnaut  to  this  constitution  to  subvert  the 
state  governments,  or  oppress  the  people. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION. 

BY  PATRICK  HENRY. 

This  constitution  is  said  to  have  beautiful  features  ;  but 
when  I  come  to  examine  these  features,  sir,  they  appear  to 
me  horribly  frightful.  Among  other  deformities,  it  has  an 
awful  squinting ;  it  squints  towards  monarchy :  and  does 
not  this  raise  indignation  in  the  breast  of  every  true  Amer- 
ican  ?  Your  president  may  easily  become  king.  Your  sen- 
ate is  so  imperfectly  constructed,  that  your  dearest  rights 
may  be  sacrificed  by  what  may  be  a  small  minority  :  and  a 
very  small  minority  may  continue  forever  unchangeably 
this  government,  although  horridly  defective.  Where  are 
your  checks  in  this  government  ?  Your  strong  holds  will 
be  in  the  hands  of  your  enemies.  It  is  on  a  supposition  that 
your  American  governors  shall  be  honest,  that  all  the  good 
qualities  of  this  government  are  founded  ;  but  its  defective 
and  imperfect  construction,  puts  it  in  their  power  to  perpe- 
trate the  worst  of  mischiefs,  should  they  be  bad  men.  And, 
sir,  would  not  all  the  world,  from  the  eastern  to  the  western 
hemisphere,  blame  our  distracted  folly  in  resting  our  rights 
upon  the  contingency  of  our  rulers  being  good  or  bad  ? 
Show  me  that  age  and  country  where  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  the  people  were  placed  on  the  sole  chance  of  their 
rulers  being  good  men,  without  a  consequent  loss  of  hberty. 
I  say  that  the  loss  of  that  dearest  privilege  has  ever  follow- 
ed, with  absolute  certainty,  every  such  mad  attempt.  If 
your  American  chief  be  a  man  of  ambition  and  abilities,  how 


henry's  speech.  165 

easy  will  it  be  for  him  to  render  himself  absolute !  The  army- 
is  in  his  hands,  and,  if  he  be  a  man  of  address,  it  will  be  at- 
tached to  him  ;  and  it  will  be  the  subject  of  long  meditation 
with  him  to  seize  the  first  auspicious  moment  to  accomplish 
his  design.  And,  sir,  will  the  American  spirit  solely  relieve 
you  when  this  happens  ?  I  would  rather  infinitely,  and  I  am 
sure  most  of  this  convention  are  of  the  same  opinion,  have  a 
king,  lords  and  commons,  than  a  government,  so  replete 
with  such  insupportable  evils.  If  we  make  a  king,  we  may 
prescribe  the  rules  by  which  he  shall  rule  his  people,  and  in- 
terpose  such  checks  as  shall  prevent  him  from  infringing 
them  :  but  the  president  in  the  field,  at  the  head  of  his  army, 
can  prescribe  the  terms  on  which  he  shall  reign  master,  so 
far  that  it  will  puzzle  any  American  ever  to  get  his  neck 
from  under  the  galling  yoke.  I  cannot,  with  patience,  think 
of  this  idea.  If  ever  he  violates  the  laws,  one  of  two  things 
will  happen :  he  will  come  at  the  head  of  his  army  to  carry 
every  thing  before  him  ;  or,  he  will  give  bail,  or  do  what 
Mr.  Chief  Justice  will  order  him.  If  he  be  guilty,  will  not 
the  recollection  of  his  crimes  teach  him  to  make  one  bold 
push  for  the  American  throne  ?  Will  not  the  immense  dif- 
ference  between  being  master  of  every  thing,  and  being  ig- 
nominiously  tried  and  punished,  powerfully  excite  him  to 
make  this  bold  push  ?  But,  sir,  where  is  the  existing  force 
to  punish  him  ?  Can  he  not,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  beat 
down  every  opposition  ?  Away  with  your  president,  we 
shall  have  a  king  :  the  army  will  salute  him  monarch  ;  your 
militia  will  leave  you,  and  assist  in  making  him  king,  and 
fight  against  you  :  and  what  have  you  to  oppose  this  force  ? 
What  will  then  become  of  you  and  your  rights  ?  Will  not 
absolute  despotism  ensue  ?  [Here  Mr.  Henry  strongly  and 
pathetically  expatiated  on  the  probability  of  the  president's 
enslaving  America,  and  the  horrid  consequences  that  must 
result.] 

What  can  be  more  defective  than  the  clause  concerning 
the  elections  ?     The  control  given   to  Congress,  over  the 


16G  henry's  speech  ox 

time,  place  and  manner  of  holding  elections,  will  totally  de- 
stroy the  end  of  suffrage.  The  elections  may  be  held  at  one 
place,  and  the  most  inconvenient  in  the  state  ;  or  they  may 
be  at  remote  distances  from  those  who  have  a  right  of  suf- 
frage :  hence,  nine  out  of  ten  must  either  not  vote  at  all,  or 
vote  for  strangers  :  for  the  most  influential  characters  will 
be  applied  to,  to  know  who  are  the  most  proper  to  bo  cho- 
sen.  I  repeat,  that  the  control  of  Congress  over  the  manner, 
&c.  of  electing,  well  warrants  this  idea.  The  natural  con- 
sequence will  be,  that  this  democratic  branch  will  possess 
none  of  the  public  confidence  :  the  people  will  be  prejudiced 
against  representatives  chosen  in  such  an  injudicious  man- 
ner. The  proceedings  in  the  northern  conclave,  will  be 
hidden  from  the  yeomanry  of  this  country.  We  are  told, 
that  the  yeas  and  nays  sh:ill  be  taken  and  entered  on  the 
journals :  this,  sir,  will  avail  nothing :  it  may  be  locked  up 
in  their  chests,  and  concealed  forever  from  the  people ;  for 
they  are  not  to  publish  what  parts  they  think  require  secre- 
cy ;  they  may  think,  and  will  think,  the  whole  requires  it. 
Another  beautiful  feature  of  this  constitution,  is  the  pub- 
lication, from  time  to  time,  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  the  public  money.  This  expression,  from  time  to  time, 
is  very  indefinite  and  indeterminate :  it  may  extend  to  a 
century.  Grant  that  any  of  them  are  wicked,  they  may 
squander  the  public  money  so  as  to  ruin  you,  and  yet  this 
expression  will  give  you  no  redress.  I  say,  they  may  ruin 
you  ;  for  where,  sir,  is  the  responsibility  ?  The  yeas  and 
nays  will  show  you  nothing,  unless  they  be  fools  as  well  as 
knaves ;  for,  after  having  wickedly  trampled  on  the  rights 
of  the  people,  they  would  act  like  fools  indeed,  were  they  to 
publish  and  divulge  their  iniquity,  when  they  have  it  equally 
in  th oir  power  to  suppress  and  conceal  it.  Where  is  the  re- 
sponsibility— that  leading  principle  in  the  British  govern- 
ment ?  In  that  government,  a  punishment,  certain  and 
inevitable,  is  provided :  but  in  this,  there  is  no  real,  actual 
punishment  for  the  grossest  mal-administration.    They  may 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  167 

go  without  punishment,  though  they  commit  the  most  out- 
rageous  violation  on  our  immunities.  That  paper  may  tell 
me  they  will  be  punished.  I  ask,  by  what  law  ?  They  must 
make  the  law,  for  there  is  no  existing  law  to  do  it.  ^Vhat — 
will  tliey  make  a  law  to  punish  themselves  ?  This,  sir,  is 
my  great  objection  to  the  constitution,  that  there  is  no  true 
responsibility,  and  that  the  preservation  of  our  liberty  de- 
pends on  the  single  chance  of  men  being  virtuous  enough  to 
make  laws  to  punish  themselves.  In  the  country  from  which 
we  are  descended,  they  have  real,  and  not  imaginary  respon- 
sibility ;  for  there,  mal-administration  has  cost  their  heads 
to  some  of  the  most  saucy  geniuses  that  ever  were.  The 
senate,  by  making  treaties,  may  destroy  your  liberty  and 
laws,  for  want  of  responsibility.  Two  thirds  of  those  that 
shall  happen  to  be  present,  can,  with  the  president,  make 
treaties,  that  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  :  they  may 
make  the  most  ruinous  treaties,  and  yet  there  is  no  punish- 
ment  for  them.  Whoever  shows  me  a  punishment  provi- 
ded for  them,  will  oblige  me.  So,  sir,  notwithstanding  there 
are  eight  pillars,  they  want  another.  ^Vhere  will  they  make 
another  ?  I  trust,  sir,  the  exclusion  of  the  evils  wherewith 
this  system  is  replete,  in  its  present  form,  will  be  made  a 
condition  precedent  to  its  adoption,  by  this  or  any  other 
state.  The  transition  from  a  general,  unquahfied  admission 
to  offices,  to  a  consolidation  of  government,  seems  easy  ; 
for,  though  the  American  states  are  dissimilar  in  their  struc- 
ture, this  will  assimilate  them :  this,  sir,  is  itself  a  strong 
consolidating  feature,  and  is  not  one  of  the  least  dangerous 
in  that  system.  Nine  states  are  sufficient  to  establish  this 
government  over  those  nine.  Imagine  that  nine  have  come 
into  it.  Virginia  has  certain  scruples.  Suppose  she  will 
consequently  refuse  to  join  those  states :  may  not  they  still 
continue  in  friendship  and  union  with  her?  If  she  sends 
bar  annual  requisitions  in  ddlars,  do  you  think  their  stom- 
achs  will  be  so  squeamish  as  to  refuse  her  dollars  ?  Will 
they  not  accept  her  regiments?     They  would   intimidate 


168  hexry's  speech  on 

you  into  an  inconsiderate  adoption,  and  frighten  you  with 
ideal  evils,  and   that  the  union  shall  be  dissolved.     'Tis  a 
bugbear,  sir :  the  fact  is,  sir,  that  the  eight  adopting  states 
can  hardly  stand  on  their  own  legs.     Public  fame  tells  us, 
that  the   adopting  states  have  already  heart-burnings  and 
animosity,  and  repent  their  precipitate  hurry  :  this,  sir,  may 
occasion  exceeding  great  mischief.  When  I  reflect  on  these, 
and  many  other  circumstances,  I  must  think  those  states 
will  be  fond  to  be  in  confederacy  with  us.     If  we  pay  our 
quota  of  money  annually,  and  furnish  our  rateable  number 
of  men,  when  necessary,  I  can  see  no  danger  from  a  rejec- 
tion.    The  history  of  Switzerland  clearly  proves,  that  we 
might  be  in  amicable  alliance   with  those  states,   without 
adopting  this  constitution.     Switzerland  is  a  confederacy, 
consisting  of  dissimilar  governments.     This  is  an  example, 
which  proves  that  governments,  of  dissimilar  structures,  may 
be  confederated.     That  confederate  republic  has  stood  up- 
wards of  four  hundred  years ;  and,  although  several  of  the 
individual  republics  are  democratic,  and  the  rest  aristocra- 
tic, no  evil  has  resulted  from  this  dissimilarity,  for  they  have 
braved  all  the  power  of  France  and  Germany,  during  that 
long  period.     The  Swiss  spirit,  sir,  has  kept  them  together  : 
they  have  encountered  and  overcome  immense   difficulties, 
with  patience  and  fortitude.     In   the  vicinity  of  powerful 
and  ambitious  monarchs,  they  have  retained  their  indepen- 
dence, republican  simplicity  and  valor.     [Here  Mr.  Henry 
drew  a  comparison  between  the  people  of  that  country  and 
those  of  France,  and  made  a  quotation  from  Addison,  illus- 
trating the  subject.]     Look  at  the  peasants  of  that  country, 
and  of  France,  and  mark  the  difference.     You  will  find  the 
condition  of  the  former  far  more  desirable  and  comfortable. 
No  matter  whether  a  people  be  great,  splendid  and  power- 
ful, if  they  enjoy  freedom.     The  Turkish  Grand  Seignior, 
along  side  of  our  president,  would  put  us  to  disgrace  :  but 
we  should  be  abundantly  consoled   for  this  disgrace,  should 
our  citizens  be  put  in  contrast  with  the  Turkish  elave. 


THE    FEDERAL    COXSTITUTIOX.  169 

The  most  valuable  end  of  government,  is  the  liberty  of 
the  inhabitants.     No  possible  advantages   can  compensate 
for  the  loss  of  this  privilege.     Show  me  the  reason  why  the 
American  union  is  to  be  dissolved.     Who  are  those  eight 
adopting  states  ?     Are  they  averse  to  give  us  a  little  time  to 
consider,  before  we  conclude  ?     Would  such  a  disposition 
render  a  junction  with  them  eligible  :  or,  is  it  the  genius  of 
that  kind  of  government,  to  precipitate  people  hastily  into 
measures  of  the  utmost   importance,  and  grant  no  indul- 
gence ?     If  it  be,  sir,  is  it  for  us  to  accede  to  such  a  govern- 
ment ?    We  have  a  right  to  have  time  to  consider — we  shall 
therefore  insist  upon  it.     Unless  the  government  be  amend- 
ed, we  can  never  accept  it.     The  adopting  states  will  doubt- 
less  accept  our  money  and  our  regiments ;  and  what  is  to 
be  the  consequence,  if  we  are  disunited  ?     I  believe  that  it 
is  yet  doubtful,  whether  it  is  not  proper  to  stand  by  a  while, 
and  see  the  effect  of  its  adoption  in  other  states.     In  form-. 
ing  a  government,  the  utmost  care  should  be  taken,  to  pre» 
vent  its  becoming  oppressive ;  and   this  government  is  of 
such  an  intricate  and  complicated  nature,  that  no  man  on 
this  earth,  can  know  its  real  operation.     The  other  states 
have  no  reason   to  think,  from  the  antecedent  conduct   of 
Virginia,  that  she  has  any  intention  of  seceding  from  the 
union,  or  of  being  less  active  to  support  the  general  welfare. 
Would  they  not,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  our  taking  time  to 
deliberate — deliberate  whether  the  measure  be  not  perilous, 
not  only  for  us,  but  the  adopting  states.     Permit  me,  sir,  to 
say,  that  a  great  majority  of  the  people,  even  in  the  adopt- 
ing states,  are  averse  to  this  government.     I  believe  I  would 
be  right  to  say,  that   they  have  been  egregiously  misled. 
Pennsylvania  has,  perhaps,  been  tricked  into  it.      If  the 
other  states,  who  have  adopted  it,  have  not  been  tricked, 
still  they  were  too  much  hurried  into  its  adoption.     There 
were  very  respectable  minorities  in  several  of  them  ;  and,  if 
reports  be  true,  a  clear  majority  of  the  people  are  averse  to 

it.     If  we  also  accede,  and  it  should  prove  grievous,  the 
15 


170 


HENRY  S    SPEECH    ON 


peace  and  prosperity  of  our  country,  which  we  all  love,  will 
be  destroyed.  This  government  has  not  the  affection  of 
the  people,  at  present.  Should  it  be  oppressive,  their  affec- 
tion will  be  totally  estranged  from  it — and,  sir,  you  know 
that  a  government  without  their  affections,  can  neither  be 
durable  nor  happy.  I  speak  as  one  poor  individual— but, 
when  I  speak,  I  speak  the  language  of  thousands.  But,  sir, 
I  mean  not  to  breathe  the  spirit,  nor  utter  the  language  of 
secession. 

I  have  trespassed  so  long  on  your  patience,  I  am  really 
concerned  that  I  have  something  yet  to  say.  The  honora- 
ble  member  has  said  that  we  shall  be  properly  represented  ; 
remember,  sir,  that  the  number  of  our  representatives  is  but 
ten,  whereof  six  are  a  majority.  Will  those  men  be  possessed 
of  sufficient  information  ?  A  particular  knowledge  of  par- 
ticular  districts,  will  not  suffice.  They  must  be  well  ac- 
quaintcd  with  agriculture,  commerce,  and  a  great  variety  of 
other  matters  throughout  the  continent ;  they  must  know 
not  only  the  actual  state  of  nations  in  Europe  and  America, 
the  situation  of  their  farmers,  cottagers  and  mechanics,  but 
also  the  relative  situation  and  intercourse  of  those  nations. 
Virginia  is  as  large  as  England.  Our  proportion  of  repre- 
sentatives is  but  ten  men.  In  England  they  have  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty.  The  house  of  commons  in  England,  nu- 
merous as  they  are,  we  are  told,  is  bribed,  and  have  bartered 
away  the  rights  of  their  constituents :  what  then  shall  be- 
come  of  us  ?  Will  these  few  protect  our  rights  ?  Will  they 
be  incorruptible  ?  You  say  they  will  be  better  men  than  the 
English  commoners.  I  say  they  will  be  infinitely  worse 
men,  because  they  are  to  be  chosen  blindfolded  :  their  elec- 
tion, (the  term,  as  applied  to  their  appointment,  is  inaccu- 
rate,) will  be  an  involuntary  nomination,  and  not  a  choice. 
I  have,  I  fear,  fatigued  the  committee,  yet  I  have  not  said 
the  one  hundred  thousandth  part  of  what  I  have  on  my  mind, 
and  wish  to  impart.  On  this  occasion,  I  conceive  myself 
Jbound  to  attend  strictly  to  the  interest  of  the  state ;  and  I 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  171 

thought  her  dearest  rights  at  stake :  Iiaving  lived  so  long — 
been  so  much  honored — my  efforts,  though  small,  are  due  to 
my  country.  I  have  found  my  mind  hurried  on  from  sub- 
ject to  subject,  on  this  very  great  occasion.  We  have  all 
been  out  of  order,  from  the  gentleman  who  opened  to  day, 
to  myself.  I  did  not  come  prepared  to  speak  on  so  multi- 
tarious  a  subject,  in  so  general  a  manner.  I  trust  you  will 
indulge  me  another  time.  Before  you  abandon  the  present 
system,  I  hope  you  will  consider  not  only  its  defects,  most 
maturely,  but  likewise  those  of  that  which  you  are  to  substi- 
tute for  it.  May  you  be  fully  apprised  of  the  dangers  of  the 
latter,  not  by  fatal  experience,  but  by  some  abler  advocate 
than  I. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SER3I01V, 

ON  THE  PERILS  OF  ATHEISM. 
BY  LYMAN  BEECHER,  D.  D. 

— e<Q©— 

1.  The  extent  of  our  country  renders  the  efficient  super- 
vision of  our  laws  impossible,  without  a  vigorous  and  all- 
pervading  tone  of  intelligence  and  moral  principle.  Our 
interests  are,  in  fact,  one  ;  but  our  vision  is  limited,  and  our 
information  imperfect,  and  our  selfishness  and  pride,  and 
passion  are  great,  and  impatient  of  self-denial,  and  contra- 
diction; and  misinformation,  and  jealousy,  and  local  preju- 
dice are  of  spontaneous  growth,  and,  with  the  sinister  cul- 
ture of  reckless  ambition,  of  rampant  vegetation. 

When,  therefore,  we  consider  the  vigor  of  our  national 
intellect — the  freedom  of  our  habits — the  self-will  and  self, 
sufficiency  of  our  republican  character — our  boundless  en- 
terprise, our  corrupting  abundance,  and  voluptuous  dissipa- 
tion,  and  fractious  impatience  of  rebuke  or  control — is  this 
a  nation,  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  and  so  eminently 
fitted  for  self-destruction,  to  say  unto  God,  "  depart  from  us, 
for  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways?"  and  to 
Christ,  "  let  us  alone,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  for  what  have 
we  to  do  with  thee  ?" 

Our  danger  is  greatly  augmented  ifwe  consider,  moreover, 
that  beside  the  collisions  of  individuals,  with  law  and  order, 
some  of  our  most  perilous  movements  are  the  conflicts  of  inde- 
pendent states — of  mighty  nations,  condensed  for  particular 
purposes  into  one  nation,  by  the  individual  suffrage  of  the 
entire  people  ;  and  that  often  one  half  the  nation  is  roused 


beecher's  sermon.  173 

in  furious  political  strife,  to  counteract  the  desires   of  the 
other  half. 

Now,  what  motives  of  human  origin  and  application  can 
extend  their  all-pervading  and  efficient  control  over  such  a 
mass  of  mind,  so  diversified  by  circumstances,  and  so  deli- 
cately, and  complexly,  and  slenderly  allied,  and  so  infuriated 
often  by  passion,  pride,  and  discontent  ? 

Who  but  God  can  speak  efficaciously  to  the  waves  of  such 
an  unquiet  sea  ?  What  but  the  omnipotent  attractions  of 
his  glory,  and  the  sanctions  of  his  eternal  government,  and 
the  tranquillizing  influence  of  his  gospel  upon  renovated 
mind,  can  bring  and  hold  such  discordant  and  powerful  ma- 
terials in  prosperous  social  alliance  ?  These  atheists  might 
as  well  form  a  project  to  annihilate  the  sun,  and  hold  t"hc 
material  vmiverse  together  by  cobv/ebs  instead  of  his  attrac- 
tions, as  to  withdraw  from  masses  of  depraved  mind  the 
moral  influence  of  his  government  and  the  institutions  of 
Christianity. 

It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  our  union  was 
formed.  Nothing  but  an  urgent  necessity,  and  wisdom, 
and  prudence,  and  patience,  and  condescension,  and  confi- 
dence in  God,  and  his  protection  and  blessing,  saved  us. 
When  our  numbers  were  small,  our  extent  limited,  our 
capital,  and  credit,  and  enterprise  in  embryo ;  and  at  an 
age  of  relative  purity  of  morals,  and  before  the  agitations  of 
party  spirit  assumed  their  fiery  aspect,  and  terrific  power, 
the  patriots  whom  nature  and  the  revolution  had  made  great, 
and  invested  with  unlimited  influence,  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  achieve  the  compromise  that  made  us  one.  And 
when  it  was  done,  it  was  with  trembling  that  the  patriot 
navigators,  with  Washington  at  the  helm,  launched  forth 
upon  the  untried  deep ;  and  though,  as  yet,  we  have  not 
foundered,  not  one  of  the  patriot  band  have  died  in  full  and 
ccrtnin  hope.  Nor  is  the  danger  past.  Dark  clouds  environ 
our  horizon  now,  and  rocks  and  quicksands  arc  about  our 

way.     Our  ablest  captains,  who  in  ordinary  times  conceal 
15* 


174  beeciier's  sermon   ojt 

their  fears,  open  their  eyes  and  tell  us  that  there  are  breakers, 
and  a  stiff  wind,  and  a  lee  shore,  and  that  they  cannot  be 
answerable  for  the  safety  of  the  ship.  That  she  will  weather 
the  storm  they  hope,  but  fear  that  in  evil  hour  she  may  strike 
or  founder.  The  concussions  of  party  spirit  now,  are  not 
the  healthful  conflicts  of  jealous  liberty,  but  the  paroxysms 
of  envy,  and  desperate  ambition,  and  deadly  hate — not  the 
breath  of  zephyrs,  and  the  gentle  undulations  of  the  lake,  to 
prevent  stagnation  ;  but  the  perilous  commotion  of  powerful 
elements.  What,  then,  in  such  a  crisis,  might  not  be  anti- 
cipated, should  a  band  of  these  political  experimenters  get 
on  board,  and  gain  the  helm,  on  purpose  to  wreck  the  ship, 
to  re-construct  from  its  fragments  another  of  better  model, 
and  to  be  navigated  under  better  auspices, — to  throw  over- 
board compass,  quadrant,  and  chart,  and  put  out  the  sun  to 
steer  by  conjecture  and  the  stars  ?  What  if  they  are  chi- 
merical,  and  honest  ?  How  many  misguided  men  aboard 
does  it  require  to  wreck  a  ship  in  a  storm  ? 

The  unexampled  power  and  prosperity  of  our  nation,  does 
but  amplify,  and  hasten,  and  render  more  inevitable  the 
causes  of  our  ruin,  without  the  correspending  moral  influ- 
ence of  the  government  of  God. 

Steam  has,  indeed,  annihilated  time  and  distance,  and 
canals  and  rail  roads  have  exalted  the  valleys,  and  brought 
down  the  mountains  ;  and  mechanism,  by  its  abbreviations  of 
labor,  is  relaxing  the  curse  on  beast  and  man,  and  multiply- 
ing a  hundred  fold  the  products  of  human  labor. 

But  if  other  republics,  on  their  little  territories,  and  in 
their  dilatory  course,  accumulated  the  means  of  effeminacy 
and  ruin  in  a  few  generations,  how  swiftly  must  our  sun  roll 
up  to  its  meridian,  to  set  among  the  clouds  generated  by  the 
decomposition  of  our  rank  abundance  ! 

Nor  let  us  confide  presumptuously  in  the  sufficiency  of  a 
national  education.  For  though  ignorance  may  destroy  us, 
knowledge  alone  cannot  save.  Knowledge  is,  indeed,  pow- 
er ;  but  it  is  power  to  kill  as  well  as  to  make  alive,  as  it  is 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATHEISM.  175 

wielded  by  the  madness  of  the  heart,  or  by  moral  principle. 
The  men  who  terrified  the  world  bv  their  crimes,  did  not 
lack  mental  culture. 

It  is  the  heart  which  governs  the  intellect,  and  not  the 
intellect  which  governs  the  heart ;  and  it  is  by  the  education 
of  the  national  heart,  in  the  first  principles  of  the  govern- 
ment of  God,  and  the  guidance  of  the  national  will,  by  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  eternity,  added  to  the  sanctions  of  time, 
that  we  can  undergird  the  ship,  and  secure  to  her  a  safe  pas- 
sage and  quiet  moorings. 

2.  The  very  greatness  of  our  liberty  is  its  most  terrific 
attribute,  in  the  presence  of  organized  licentiousness  and 
demoralization. 

In  a  despotic  government,  force  may  protect  us,  where 
public  sentiment  is  too  corrupt  to  secure  the  execution  of 
the  laws.  But  in  a  republic  it  is  not  so.  There,  when  pub- 
lic sentiment  falters,  the  laws  have  no  power  ;  and  then,  first 
anarch}^  and  next  despotism  ensues.  The  genius  of  our 
government,  and  the  competitions  of  party  have  introduced 
universal  suffrage.  The  door  is  wide  open  to  all  Avho  are 
born,  and  to  all  who  immigrate,  and  cannot  be  shut.  We 
must  live  by  universal  suffrage  or  perish.  If  we  can  imbue 
with  knowledge  and  virtue  the  mass,  we  shall  live  ;  but  if 
irreligion  and  profligacy  predominate,  sure  as  the  march  of 
time,  we  fail.  Such  mobs  among  us,  as  in  England  they  play 
with  as  the  lion  would  play  with  the  kid,  would  destroy  us. 
Force  enough  to  quell  them,  would,  in  the  hand  of  an  ambi- 
tious demagogue,  be  foi'ce  enough  to  enslave  us.  Ours  must 
be  a  self-government  or  despotism.  Such  a  nation  as  this 
must  be  greatly  free,  or  crushed  by  the  most  rigorous  des- 
potism that  ever  extorted  groans  from  suffering  humanity. 
Do  any  exult  in  our  safety,  and  bid  defiance  to  disaster, 
because  we  are  now  so  free  and  so  powerful  ? — The  inconstant 
ocean  might  as  well  exult  in  her  momentary  tranquillity,  be- 
cause her  waves  are  above  control ;  when  it  is  the  very 


176  BEECnER's    SERMON    ON 

circumstance  of  their  freedom  and  indomitable  power  which 
gives  to  the  atmosphere  such  power  upon  the  fluid  mass. 

Twice,  in  France,  the  physical  power  has  gained  the 
ascendency  over  law  ;  and  by  the  last  victory,  the  discovery 
has  been  made,  that  to  patriots,  cities  are  fortresses,  and 
pavements  munitions.  This  is  one  of  the  most  glorious  and 
dreadful  discoveries  of  modern  days — glorious  in  its  ultimate 
results,  in  the  emancipation  of  the  world,  but  dreadful  in  those 
intervening  revolutions  which  power  may  achieve  in  the 
conquest  of  liberty,  without  corresponding  intelligence  and 
virtue  for  its  permanent  preservation. 

The  conquest  of  liberty  is  not  difficult — the  question  is, 
where  to  put  it — with  whom  to  entrust  it.  If  to  the  multitude 
who  achieved  it,  it  be  committed,  it  will  perish  by  anarchy. 
If  national  guards  are  employed  for  its  defence,  the  bayonets 
which  protect  it  are  at  any  moment  able  to  destroy  it  for  a 
miUtary  despotism.  If  to  a  republican  king  it  be  entrusted, 
it  will  have  to  be  regulated  by  state  policy,  and  fed  on  bread 
and  water,  until  the  action  of  her  heart,  and  the  movement 
of  her  tongue,  and  the  power  of  her  arm,  as  under  the  deadly 
incubus,  shall  cease.  There  is  not  in  this  wide  world 
A     safe    deposit    for    liberty,    bit     the    hearts    of 

PATRIOTS,  so  enlightened,  AS  TO  BE  ABLE  TO  JUDGE  OF 
CORRECT  LEGISLATION,  AND  SO  PATIENT  AND  DISINTER- 
ESTED, AS  TO  PRACTICE  SELF-DENIAL,  AND  SELF-GOVERN- 
MENT,    FOR    THE    PUBLIC    GOOD. 

But  can  such  a  state  of  society  be  found  and  maintained 
without  the  bible,  and  the  institutions  of  Christianity  ?  Did 
a  condition  of  unperverted  liberty,  uninspii-ed  by  christi- 
anity,  ever  bless  the  world  through  any  considerable  period 
of  duration  ?  The  power  of  a  favoring  clime,  and  the  force 
of  genius,  did  thrust  up  from  the  dead  level  of  monotonous 
despotism,  the  republics  of  Greece  to  a  temporary  liberty  ; 
but  it  was  a  patent  model  only,  compared  with  such  a  nation 
as  this  ;  and  it  was  partial,  and  capricious,  and  of  short  du- 
ration, and  rendered  illustrious  rather  by  the  darkness  which 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATIIEIS3I.  177 

preceded  and  followed,  than  by   the  benign  influence  of  its 
own  beams. 

Certainly  it  is  Christianity  which,  in  this  country,  rocked 
the  cradle  of  our  liberties,  defended  our  youth,  and  brought 
us  up  to  manhood.  And  it  has  been  proved  that  under  her 
auspices  three  millions  and  twelve  millions  of  people  may  be 
protected  and  governed.  But  that  twenty,  fifty,  or  a  hun- 
dred millions  can,  without  a  vast  augmentation  of  her  moral 
power  over  mind,  has  not  been  proved — while  all  past  analo- 
gies,  and  all  present  circumstances  of  our  nation  announce 
that  Christianity  is  our  best  hope,  and  that  without  it  our 
destruction  does  not  slumber. 

During  all  past  ages,  the  vast  majority  of  the  human  fam- 
ily, unblest  by  revelation,  have  been  idolaters  and  slaves ; 
and  at  the  present  time,  all  nations  upon  whom  the  sun  of 
righteousness  has  not  arisen,  are  in  deep  darkness,  and  are 
crushed  by  grievous  despotism.  DayUght  is  not  more  uni- 
formly found  in  the  track  of  the  sun,  than  civil  liberty  is 
found  in  the  track  of  Christianity,  and  despotism  in  its  ab- 
sence. 

The  problem  then  to  be  settled  by  this  young  and  mighty 
nation,  is  this — can  a  sufficient  intellectual  illumination  be 
combined  with  a  sufficient  power  of  moral  purity,  to  cre- 
ate and  perpetuate,  a  predominant  and  efficacious  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  a  correct  morality,  and  efficient 
law  for  the  protection  of  virtue,  and  the  punishment 
of  crime?  If  this  can  be  achieved,  the  nation  will  be 
the  safe  depository  of  liberty  for  ever.  The  heart  of  this 
mighty  people  will  be  its  abiding  sanctuary,  and  the  arm  of 
this  nation,  uncorrupt  and  undebased,  will,  under  God,  be 
its  everlasting  protection ;  and  we  shall  be  the  greatest,  hap- 
piest nation  that  ever  hved.  Violence  shall  not  be  heard 
in  our  land,  nor  wasting  and  destruction  within  our  borders. 
Our  walls  will  be  salvation,  and  our  gates  will  be  praise.  Our 
sun  will  not  go  down,  nor  our  moon  wane.  The  Lord  will 
be  our  unsetting  sun,  and  our  God  will  be  our  glory. 


178  BEECIIEr's    SER3I0J;    ON 

We  shall  not  appreciate  the  danger  of  an  organized  effort 
against  our  civil  and  religious  institutions,  without  consider- 
ing the  various  bad  affinities  of  our  depraved  nature,  upon 
which  they  may  easily  act,  and  bring  them  into  unconscious 
subserviency  to  their  purpose. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  human  nature  lusteth  to  envv. 
No  passions  in  man  arc  more  powerful  than  selfishness,  and 
pride,  and  inordinate  desire  and  discontent.  These  were 
the  origin  of  the  contest  between  the  patricians  and  plebians 
in  Rome,  which  continually  agitated,  and  at  length  destroy- 
ed the  republic.  It  is  a  distinction  in  society  inseparable 
from  the  diverse  capacities,  characters,  habits  and  employ- 
ments of  men  in  the  different  departments  of  labor,  Vihich 
are  indispensable  to  the  most  elevated  possible  condition  of 
society.  It  exists  in  every  republic,  and  no  doubt  it  is  a 
constitution  of  things  inseparable  from  the  intelUgent  perfect 
society  of  the  universe. 

But  it  is  a  constitution  of  providence  against  which  re- 
bellion has  rolled  its  most  furious  tide  ;  and  especially,  as  the 
inequality  of  conditions  is  aggravated  by  crime  among  un- 
informed masses,  goaded  by  suffering,  and  reckless  of  prin- 
ciple, it  constitutes  a  most  malignant  and  terrific  physical 
power,  looking  up  with  green  eyed  envy  upon  all  the  happy 
fruits  of  virtue,  and  knowledge,  and  industry  in  the  orders  of 
society  above. 

None  who  have  not  moved  through  this  moral  atmosphere, 
and  watched  the  eye,  and  noted  the  significant  tones  of 
complaint,  and  movements  of  subdued  but  bitter  feeling,  can 
conceive  what  a  magazine  lies  under  the  foundations  of  all 
which  is  valuable  to  man. 

This  jealousy  of  the  higher  orders  of  society  is  especially 
powerful  against  the  rich — it  is  almost  like  the  ceaseless 
burning  of  heated  iron.  There  is  pervading  the  entire  class 
of  relative  poverty  a  strong  feeling  of  dissatisfaction,  as  if 
they  were  injured,  and  as  if  the  rich   were  the  aggressors, 


THE    PEUILS    OF    ATUEISM.  179 

and  were  revelling  on  the  spoils  which  had  been  wrested 
I'roni  them. 

The  various  forms  of  dishonesty,  and  peculation,  and  fraud, 
and  violence,  are  but  so  many  symptomatic  indications  of 
the  impatient  violence  which,  but  for  the  strong  arm  of  the 
law,  would  break  out  in  one  levelling  prostration  of  all  which 
art,  and  industry  and  science  have  reared  up. 

With  the  constant  admonition,  that  this  state  of  feehn"- 
is  wrong — that  inequality  of  condition  is  inseparable  from 
the  best  possible  constitution  of  society — that  its  miseries 
are  adventitious,  from  the  perversion  of  heaven's  wisdom 
and  goodness,  yet  w  ithout  intellectual  perversion — with  the 
understanding  and  conscience  armed  against  such  feelings 
—with  the  omniscient  eye  of  God  on  the  heart,  and  his  voi"ce 
reiterating,  be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God — with  his 
sword  drawn,  and  his  lightnings  at  hand,  and  his  thunder- 
ings  uttering  their  voices,  and  all  the  retributions  of  time 
and  eternity  impending,  it  is  as  much  as  can  be  done  to 
prevent  explosion,  and  revolution,  and  more  than  is  done  to 
protect  Ufe,  and  liberty,  and  property. 

The  constancy  of  peculation  in  trade — the  ingenuity  of 
swindlers,  and  pick-pockets — the  dexterity  of  theft — the  vio- 
lence of  robbery,  and  the  increasing  recklessness  of  murder, 
show  what,  as  the  government  of  God  falls  back,  is  rising  up 
and  rushing  in  upon  us — show  that  the  mountain  is  unquiet, 
and  that  these  doctrines  of  atheistic  levelling  liberty,  are 
like  so  many  sparks  faUing  upon  a  train  already  prepared 
for  an  explosion,  and  waiting  only  for  the  moment  of  igni- 
tion. 

Who  that  has  to  deal  with  property,  and  those  who  covet, 
does  not  know  the  strong  fever  which  burns  beneath  the 
restraints  of  law  ?  How  much  would  any  man  well  versed 
in  the  ways  of  men,  give  for  his  outstanding  debts,  of  which 
he  could  produce  no  evidence,  or  which  the  laws  sustained 
by  executive  power  could  not  collect  ?  The  relations  of 
civilized  society,  and  separate  property,  could  not  exist  an 


180  beecher's  sermon  on 

hour  after  public  sentiment,  and  the   physical   power  had 
ceased  to  sustain  the  laws. 

Let  this  pestilent  philosophy,  then,  augment  the  moral 
obliquity   of  the  lower   classes  of  society,  by  adding  the 
sanction  of  principle  to  their  perverted,  impatient,  aUenated 
feeling.     Let  private  property  and  inequaUty  of  condition 
be  stigmatized  as  an  artilicial  condition, — the  work  of  priests 
and  lawyers — of  church  and  state — a  vile  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical aristocracy.     Let  the  laws  be  traduced  as  systems 
of  organized  injustice  and  vile  persecution ;  and  the  sooth- 
ing  accents  of  sympathy  and  hope  be  breathed  upon  the  ear 
of  suffering  humanity  by  these  dear  lovers  of  the   people. 
Let  them  inculcate  on  every  heart  the  people's  wrongs,  and 
their    own    magnanimous    sympathy.     Let  their   voice  be 
heard  without — at  the  corners  of  the  streets — at  the   chief 
places  of  concourse — at  the  opening  of  the  gates,   and  in 
all  the  places  of  strong  drink  and  inebriation,  and  sinks  of 
pollution,  and  infamy,  and  wo — ascribing  their  sufferings  to 
priestcraft,  and  property,  and  marriage,  and  virtue,  and  law. 
Let  them  flatter  the  multitude  for  virtues  which  they  do  not 
possess,  and  eulogize  as  virtues  their  rank  crimes — puttino- 
light  for  darkness  and  darkness  for  light.     Let  them  praise 
one  another,  and  denounce  all  whose  concord  with  them  does 
not  promise  aid  to  their  project.     Let   them   bargain  their 
suffrage  to  ambitious  demagogues,   who   care  not   by  what 
ladder  they  rise   or  what  is  demolished,  provided  they  as- 
cend — upon  condition  that  one  good  turn  shall  be  repaid  by 
another — until  by  collusion,  and  the   concentration  of  evil 
forces,  they  gain  the  balance  in  some  closely  contested  elec- 
tion, with  a  sufficient  mass  of  corrupt   propensity,  and  evil 
daring,  and  infatuated  madness,  to  seize  the  moment  to  let 
out  their  experiment.     Then,  indeed,  it  will  be  but  for  a 
moment.     But  that  moment  would  be  the  downfall  of  liberty, 
and  the  overturnings  of  revolution,  and  the  infuriated  pour- 
ing  out  of  blood.     It  will  be  but  a  moment,  and  the  indigna- 
tion  will  have  passed  over  ;  but  like  the  inundation,  it  will 
find  a  paradise,  and  leave  behind  it  an  utter  desolation. 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATHEISM.  181 

If  you  think  that  such  a  crisis  cannot  come  on  our  coun- 
try,  you  have  not  studied  the  constitution  of  society,  the 
character  of  man,  the  past  history  of  moral  causes,  or  the 
existing  signs  of  the  times.  You  have  not  read  the  glowing 
pages  of  specious  argument,  of  powerful  eloquence,  of  spirit- 
stirring  indignation — pouring  adventitious  action  upon  the 
fever  of  the  brain,  and  the  madness  of  the  heart. 

Hear  these  Catilines  harangue  their  troops,  in  the  500,000 
grogshops   of  the  nation — the  temples  and  inspiration  of 
atheistic    worship  : — "  Comrades,     patriots,    friends, — The 
time  has  come.     Long  have  you  suffered,  and  deeply,  and 
in  all  sorts  of  ways.     Property  has  been  denied  you,  that 
others  might  roll  in  splendor  ;  and  toil  imposed,  that   they 
might  inherit  ease  ;  and  poverty  inflicted,  that  they  might 
be  blessed  with  more  than  heart  could  wish ;  and  to  add  ig. 
nomy  to  fraud,  and  persecution  to  insult,   your  names   are 
cast  out  as  evil.     You  snatch  the  crumbs   from  their  table, 
and  they  call  it  stealing.     The  momentary   alleviation  of 
your  woes  by  stimulus,  drunkenness  ;  and  your  intercourse  as 
freeborn    animals,  is  branded  with  outlawry  and  burning 
shame  ;  and  all  this  by  that  intolerant  aristocracy  of  wealth, 
religion  and  law.     You  are  miserable,  and  you  are  oppress- 
ed  ;  but  you  hold  in  your  own  hand  the  power   of  redress. 
Those  splendid  dwellings,  and  glittering  equipages — those 
cultivated  farms  and  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills — those  barns, 
bursting  out  with  all  manner  of  plenty — those  voluptuous 
cities,   and  stores,  crowded  with  merchandize — and   boats 
and  ships  transporting  wealth — and  those  banks  and  vaults 
of  gold  are  yours.     You  are  the  people — numbers  are  with 
you.     Rise,  freemen — rise — to  the  polls— -to  the  polls — and 
all  is  yours." 

It  is  true  this  levelling  system  would  destroy  the  industry 
of  the  world.  It  would  augment  the  number,  and  aggra- 
vate the  poverty  of  the  poor,  as  it  would  expel  the  arts,  ban- 
ish  commerce,  stop  the  plough,  and  shut  up  the  work-shop, 
and  send  back  the  ruined  race  to  skins,  and  bows,  and  arrows, 
16 


182  BEECHER^S    SERMON    ON 

But  what  is  all  this  to  a  short-sighted,  infuriated  population, 
who  know  only  that  they  are  miserable,  and  feel  that  all 
above  them  is  invidious  distinction  and  crime  ;  and  that  to 
rise,  it  is  only  necessary  to  grasp  the  pillars  of  society, 
and  pull  it  down?  Is  there  no  treason  in  breathing  such 
doctrines  upon  the  ear  of  discontented  millions?  It  is 
throwing  firebrands  into  a  magazine. 

The  numbers  to  whom  these  men  and  their  doctrines  have 
access,  are  not  duly  considered  by  those  who  think  that 
there  is  no  danger.  To  the  uninformed  population  of  our 
cities,  and  mechanical  and  manufacturing  establishments, 
as  well  as  to  our  sparse  frontier  settlements,  they  pay  a  se- 
dulous attention,  teaching  inebriation,  and  lust,  and  impiety, 
by  caricature  and  the  eye,  as  well  as  by  the  ear. 

To  all  the  vicious,  incensed  by  the  outlawry  of  public  sen- 
timent, they  send  the  tokens  of  their  sympathy,  the  manuals 
of  their  instruction,  and  the  trumpet-call  to  action,  with  un- 
faltering confidence  of  their  aid. 

Upon  all  the  wretched  young  men,  whom  pleasure  has 
seduced  from  the  right  way,  and  stung  to  madness  and  des- 
peration by  loss  of  character  and  blighted  hopes,  such  as 
Catiline  drew  after  him  to  overthrow  the  liberties  of  Rome, 
they  may  calculate,  without  danger  of  deception. 

While  the  covetous,  who  live  by  the  vices  of  the  communi- 
ty, and  fear  that  we  are  going  too  fast,  without  intending 
the  extremities  which  come,  may  aid  to  bring  them  on  be- 
yond retrieve. 

Nominal  believers,  from  great  aversion  to  the  accounta- 
bilities of  an  endless  government,  and  punishment,  may,  from 
repulsion  on  the  one  hand,  and  sympathetic  attractions  on 
the  other,  be  made  more  than  neutral,  while  the  forces  are 
collecting,  and  the  conflict  is  coming  on. 

And  all  who  regard  (he  bible  as  a  dangerous  book  for  pop- 
ular use,  might  aid  the  common  eflbrt  of  restricting  its 
circulation,  and  putting  down  rival  denominations — intend- 
ing only  their  own  benefit,  but  unable  as  the  crisis  rolled  on 
to  stop  the  overpowering  evil. 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATHEISM. 


183 


The  direct  and  indirect  influence,  then,  of  this  poisonous 
leaven,  industriously  propagated,  and  favored  by  human  na- 
ture,  and  the  multipUed  coincidences  of  character,  interest, 
and  circumstance,  cannot  be  small,  or  be  safely  despised. 

But  if  to  this  onward  movement  of  concentrated  power, 
you  add  the  systematic  effort  which  is  making  to  break  down 
the  moral  resistances  of  the  community,  and  to  open  an  un- 
obstructed  admission  to  the  flood,  our  solicitude  may  well 
increase. 

Th3  natural  course  of  business  and  pleasure,  in  its  bearings 
upon  the  sabbath,  is  sufficiently  appalling.  This  day  is,  no 
doubt,  the  great  organ  of  the  divine  administration.  It  is 
of  little  consequence  whether  men  disbeUeve  the  existence 
of  God,  or  forget  his  character  and  laws,  and  authority. 
But  separate  from  the  sabbath  and  social  worship,  no  effica. 
cious  means  exist  for  the  religious  instruction  of  mankind  ; 
and  the  cessation  of  the  sabbath  is  the  abolition  of  the  gov- 
ernment  of  God  as  really  as  could  be  effected  by  the  disbe- 
lief of  his  being. 

But  this  dreadful  work  of  obliteration,  unplanned  and  un- 
designed,  is  going  on  as  fast  almost  as  atheism  could  desire. 
The  stream  of  commerce  on  our  seacoast  is  now  swelled  by 
the  streams  of  dissipation  which  pour  out  from  our  cities,  as 
from  inexhaustible  fountains,  and  by  the  streams  of  business, 
private  and  national,  M'hich  hold  on  their  unchecked  and 
auffmentinc  career — while  our  inland  seas,  and  canals,  and 
our  stages,  and  the  steamboats,  and  the  rail-roads,  in  all  di- 
rections,  seem  to  vie  with  each  other  in  their  all-pervading 
and  lengthened  career  of  sabbath  day  violation.  Alas  !  the 
whole  nation  seems  to  be  on  the  sabbath  in  a  state  of  mi- 
gration, and  never  in  one  stay — the  sanctuary  empty,  and 
every  stage,  and  boat,  and  tavern  full.  Who  can  arrest  and 
instruct  this  mass  of  vagrant  migrating  mind — and  who 
train  up  the  children  of  the  nation,  abandoned  to  ignorance 
and  irreligion  ?  Could  the  nation  be  intellectually  educated, 
were  all  its  instructors,  and  all  its  pupils  driving  about  on 
wheels  and  boats,  in  hours  consecrated  to  study  ?     And  can 


184  beechek's  sekmon  on 

the  nation  be  instructed  in  the  government  of  God,  and  its 
own  relative  duties  and  responsibiUties,  by  the  way  side,  or 
on  the  canal,  or  the  lake — running  unceasingly  the  race  of 
business  and  pleasure  ?  Assuredly  this  mighty  nation  can- 
not be  compelled  by  law  to  stop  and  consecrate  the  sabbath 
to  the  great  and  benevolent  ends  of  its  institution.  But  it 
is  equally  certain,  that  if  it  will  not  voluntarily  pause,  and 
do  homage  to  the  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  God,  by  a 
spontaneous  rest  for  purposes  of  religious  education,  and 
moral  culture,  the  nation  is  undone.  Europe  never  will  be 
qualified  for  liberty  until  she  keeps  her  sabbaths  in  a  better 
manner ;  and  this  happy  nation  will  not  long  possess  any 
thing  to  be  envied  above  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  after  tie 
influence  of  her  sabbaths  has  passed  away. 

But  as  if  the  fates  did  not  turn  the  spindle  fast  enough 
which  unrolls  our  destiny,  and  lets  us  down,  these  conspira- 
tors, aided  inconsiderately  by  multitudes,  who  know  not 
their  purpose,  are  turning  a  systematic  jealousy  upon  the 
sabbath  and  its  friends.  The  observance  of  it,  by  our  fathers 
and  ourselves,  in  the  only  way  in  which  its  great  designs 
can  be  answered,  is  ridiculed  ;  our  solicitude  for  its  preser- 
vation stigmatized  as  sainted  hypocrisy ;  our  meek  suppli- 
cations and  reasonings  against  its  legalized  violation,  ad- 
duced as  pregnant  evidence  of  conspiracy  against  our  coun- 
try's liberty.  *         *         *         h<  *  h:  * 

I  cannot  close  this  lecture  without  calling  around  me,  in 
imagination,  and  with  feelings  of  great  respect  and  affection, 
the  laboring  classes  of  this  nation,  whose  religious  and  poli- 
tical  faith,  these  men  would  subvert. 

My  beloved  countrymen  : — if  there  is  an  eye  in  the  uni- 
verse that  pities  you,  or  a  heart  that  feels  for  you,  or  a  hand 
stretched  out  for  you7'  protection  especially — it  is  the  eye, 
and  the  heart  and  the  hand  of  heaven — it  is  your  cause,  that 
the  christian  revelation  espouses.  No  other  religion  ever 
cared  for  the  common  people,  ever  brought  them  within  the 
reach  of  instruction,  or  ever  elevated  them  to  intelHgence 
and  competence  and  virtue.     In  all  Pagan,  Mahometan,  and 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATHEISM.  185 

Papal  lands,  they  are  in  deep  darkness  and  in  chains,  be- 
neath grievous  burthens.  It  is  the  bible  and  the  sabbath, 
and  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  schools,  and  the 
virtue,  and  the  enterprise,  and  the  equality,  which  Christian- 
ity creates,  which  dispels  the  darkness,  and  opens  the  prison 
door,  and  knocks  ofT  the  cliains,  and  breaks  off  the  yoke,  and 
takes  off  the  burdens,  which  have  in  all  nations  and  ages 
been  the  lot  of  persons  in  your  condition. 

Infidels  are  republicans  in  theory  and  in  tongue,  but  not 
in  deed  and  in  truth.  They  are  not  your  friends  ;  but  God 
is  your  friend.  He  has  predicted  and  projected,  and  will 
accomplish  your  elevation.  Jesus  Christ  is  your  friend. 
He  was  born  of  virtuous  and  industrious  parents,  in  humble 
life  ;  he  performed  your  labors,  felt  your  cares,  bore  in  his 
own  body  your  sorrows,  and  can  be  and  is  touched  with  the 
feeling  of  your  infirmities.  He  knows  how  to  emancipate, 
and  elevate  you,  and  mitigate  the  curse  which  has  for  ages 
rested  so  heavily  upon  you.  But  these  infidel  philosophers 
are  bUnd,  ignorant,  untaught,  and  unteachable  masters ; 
who,  while  they  promise  you  liberty,  are  themselves  the  ser- 
vants  of  sin  ;  and  while  they  offer  to  raise  you,  will  thrust 
you  down  to  deeper  poverty,  and  reckless  animalism,  and 
wretchedness. 

What  nation  have  they  ever  emancipated,  but  by  a  revo- 
lution, more  terrific  than  despotism?  What  well  ordered 
republic  have  they  ever  formed  and  maintained  a  single  year  ? 
What  community  have  they  enlightened  and  purified  ? 
Where  are  the  schools  and  colleges,  for  the  sons  of  the  poor, 
which  they  have  founded  ?  What  single  family  have  they 
blessed  with  pure  affections,  and  augmented  industry,  and 
domestic  peace  ?  What  single  heart  have  they  ever  made 
better  by  the  extinction  of  evil  passions,  and  the  nurture  of 
benevolence  ?  What  vicious  man  have  they  reclaimed,  what 
poor  man  have  they  made  rich,  what  miserable  man  have 
they  sustained  by  their  philosophy,  in  life  or  in  death  ? 

Well  meaning  they  may  be,  but  it  is  the  well  meaning  ot 
16* 


186  beecher's  sermon  on 

ignorant  and  foolish  men — ignorant  of  the  bible,  ignorant 
of  history,  ignorant  of  human  nature,  and  those  moral  causes 
which  have  always  been  auspicious  or  pernicious — not 
knowing  what  they  say,  or  whereof  they  affirm.  Reckless 
are  they  of  their  own  and  of  your  best  good ;  wanton,  rash, 
and  desperate  are  they  in  their  experiments  ;  mofal  maniacs, 
more  utterly  bereft  of  common  sense  than  any  other  class 
of  men  who  ever  set  up  for  guides  and  challenged  confidence. 
The  evidence  cannot  be  heightened  of  the  falsehood  and 
folly  of  their  system.  Should  they  propose  a  system  of  ag- 
riculture, which  reversed  every  one  of  the  known  principles 
of  natural  philosophy,  it  would  not  surpass  the  violence 
which  their  system  does  to  the  equally  well  known,  and 
established  laws  of  mind,  society,  and  moral  government. 
That  righteousness,  such  as  they  despise,  exalteth  a  nation, 
and  sin,  such  as  they  eulogize,  is  the  destruction  of  a  people, 
is  as  certain  as  the  laws  of  vision  or  of  gravity. 

It  is  hard  to  elevate  the  mass,  and  harder  to  sustain,  and 
none  but  by  the  help  of  God  and  his  institutions  have  been 
able  to  do  it.  Christianity  is  the  world's  last  hope  for  civil 
liberty  ;  if  this  will  not  diversify  the  results  of  national  pros- 
perity, then  are  we  with  rapid  strides  making  for  the  preci- 
pice, and  preparing  to  bid  a  long  farewell  to  all  our  liberty. 
You  must  reject  these  evil  counsellors.  You  must  appreciate 
the  bible,  or  you  and  yours  will  soon  fall  back  into  that  state 
of  hopeless  ignorance  and  poverty,  and  vice,  from  which 
there  is  no  resurrection.  The  priestcraft  which  has  dark- 
ened and  enslaved  the  world,  is  one  which  has  rejected  or 
sequestered  the  bible  :  not  that  which  gave  it  to  the  common 
people,  and  preached  the  gospel  to  the  poor.  It  is  christi- 
anity  which  introduces  universal  liberty,  which  equalizes 
and  elevates,  and  it  is  its  absence  which  puts  you  down. 
The  conspiracy  against  your  liberties  is  forming  by  those 
who  would  banish  you  from  the  day  of  rest,  and  intellectual 
and  moral  improvement,  and  doom  you  and  your  families  to 
toil  seven  days  instead  of  six  without  the  least  increase  of 
remuneration.     This  it  is  which  will  unintellectualize  the 


THE    PERILS    OF    ATHEISM.  187 

laboring  classes,  and  throw  them  back  into  the  distance  be- 
yond  the  light  of  hope,  and  the  reach  of  successful  competi- 
tion. If  you  wish  to  be  free  indeed,  you  must  be  virtuous, 
temperate,  well  instructed,  with  the  door  of  honor  and  profit 
open  to  you  and  to  your  children.  As  the  sun  draws  up  the 
whole  body  of  the  ocean  it  passes  over,  raising  the  tide  in 
the  career  of  his  glorious  way,  so  will  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness take  hold  of  you  and  your  families  and  raise  them  up, 
and  bring  them  within  the  constant  attraction  of  hope  and 
virtue.  Those  who  wish  for  the  preservation  of  the  sabbath, 
are  not  bigots  ;  they  do  not  seek  a  union  of  church  and 
state  ;  they  seek  the  unextinguished  lustre  of  that  moral  sun 
for  your  sake,  who  with  it  will  rise  and  without  it  will  .go 
down  to  where  all  the  laboring  classes  of  the  world  have 
been,  and  now  are — whom  the  bible  and  the  sabbath  have 
not  emancipated  and  elevated. 

It  is  the  agriculturists,  merchants,  manufacturers  and  day 
laborers,  of  the  nation,  who  must  decide  its  destiny.  It  is 
your  hearts  that  must  be  the  sanctuary  of  liberty  ;  and  your 
conscience  that  must  stand  sentinel,  to  pi-event  her  perver- 
sion, and  your  bodies  that  must  constitute  a  rampart  around 
those  holy  and  blessed  institutions  of  heaven,  which  God  has 
given  to  man  in  the  bible — whose  blessings  our  fathers  with 
toil  and  blood  put  in  motion,  and  which  with  augmenting 
prosperity,  at  every  step,  have  come  down  and  are  now  rolling 
around  us  like  the  waves  of  the  sea  :  blessinors  which  urffe 
themselves  upon  us,  and  from  which  we  cannot  flee,  and  whose 
blest  intrusion  we  cannot  resist,  but  by  taking  counsel  once 
more  to  break  the  bands  of  Christ,  and  cast  away  his  cords 
from  us.  We  need  not  petition  congress  to  spare  the  sabbath  ; 
if  they  do,  the  people  can  desecrate  the  sacred  day — the  peo- 
ple must  decide,  each  man  for  himself  and  his  family,  whether 
he  will  live  under  the  government  of  God,  and  enjoy  its  sun- 
shine,  and  breathe  its  liberty,  and  be  elevated  by  its  power 
and  sanctified  by  its  purity,  and  blessed  by  its  exuberant, 
unnumljered  and  inexhaustible  blessings  ;  or,  go  back  to  the 
midnight  of  ignorance,  and  the  bondage  of  corruption. 


EXTRACT    FROM    A   DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  ON  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  CEMETERY  AT 

MOUNT  AUBURN. 

BY  JOSEPH  STORY. 


Our  Cemeteries  rightly  selected,  and  properly  arranged, 
may  be  made  subservient  to  some  of  the  highest  purposes  of 
religion  and  human  duty.  They  may  preach  lessons,  to 
which  none  may  refuse  to  listen,  and  which  all,  that  live, 
must  hear.  Truths  may  bs  there  felt  and  taught  in  the 
silence  of  our  own  meditations,  more  persuasive,  and  more 
enduring  than  ever  flowed  from  human  lips.  The  grave  hath 
a  voice  of  eloquence,  nay,  of  superhuman  eloquence,  which 
speaks  at  once  to  the  thoughtlessness  of  the  rash,  and  the 
devotion  of  the  good ;  which  addresses  all  times,  and  all 
asres,  and  all  sexes :  which  tells  of  wisdom  to  the  wise,  and 
of  comfort  to  the  afflicted  ;  which  warns  us  of  our  follies  and 
our  dangers  ;  which  whispers  to  us  in  accents  of  peace,  and 
alarms  us  in  tones  of  terror  ;  which  steals  with  a  healing 
balm  into  the  stricken  heart,  and  lifts  up  and  supports  the 
broken  spirit  ;  which  awakens  a  new  enthusiasm  for  virtue, 
and  disciplines  us  for  its  severer  trials  and  duties ;  which 
calls  up  the  images  of  the  illustrious  dead,  with  an  animating 
presence  for  our  example  and  glory  ;  and  which  demands  of 
us,  as  men,  as  patriots,  as  christians,  as  immortals,  that  the 
powers  given  by  God  should  be  devoted  to  his  service,  and 
the  minds  created  by  his  love,  should  return  to  him  with 
larger  capacities  for  virtuous  enjoyment,  and  with  more 
spiritual  and  intellectual  brightness. 


story's  discourse.  189 

It  should  not  be  for  the  poor  purpose  of  gratifying  our 
vanity  or  pride,  that  we  should  erect  columns,  and  obelisks, 
and  monuments  to  the  dead  ;  but  that  we  may  read  thereon 
much  of  our  own  destiny  and  duty.  We  know,  that  man  is 
the  creature  of  associations  and  excitements.  Experience 
may  instruct,  but  habit,  and  appetite,  and  passion,  and  ima- 
gination, will  exercise  a  strong  dominion  over  him.  These 
are  the  Fates,  which  weave  the  thread  of  his  character,  and 
unravel  the  mysteries  of  his  conduct.  The  truth  which 
strikes  home,  must  not  only  have  the  approbation  of  his 
reason,  but  it  must  bo  embodied  in  a  visible,  tangible,  practi- 
cal form.  It  must  be  felt,  as  well  as  seen.  It  must  warm, 
as  well  as  convince. 

It  was  a  saying  of  Thomistocles,  that  the  trophies  of  Mil- 
tiades  would  not  sutler  him  to  sleep.  The  feeling,  thus  ex- 
pressed,  has  a  deep  foundation  in  the  human  mind ;  and,  as 
it  is  well  or  ill  directed,  it  will  cover  us  with  shame,  or  exalt 
us  to  glory.  The  deeds  of  the  great  attract  but  a  cold  and 
listless  admiration,  when  they  pass  in  historical  order  before 
us  like  moving  shadows.  It  is  the  trophy  and  the  monument, 
which  invest  them  with  a  substance  of  local  reality.  Who, 
that  has  stood  by  the  tomb  of  Washington  on  the  quiet  Po- 
tomac, has  not  felt  his  heart  more  pure,  his  wishes  more  aspi- 
ing,  his  gratitude  more  warm,  and  his  love  of  country  touched 
by  a  holier  flame?  Who,  that  should  see  erected  in  shades 
like  these,  even  a  cenotaph  to  the  memory  of  a  man,  like 
Buckminster,  that  prodigy  of  early  genius,  would  not  feel, 
that  there  is  an  excellence  over  which  death  hath  no  power, 
but  which  lives  on  through  all  time,  still  freshening  with  the 
lapse  of  ages. 

But  passing  from  those,  who  by  their  talents  and  virtues 
have  shed  lustre  on  the  annals  of  mankind,  to  cases  of  mere 
private  bereavement,  who,  that  should  deposit  in  shades, 
like  these,  the  remains  of  a  beloved  friend,  would  not  feel  a 
secret  pleasure  in  the  thought,  that  the  simple  inscription  to 
his  worth  would  receive   the  passing  tribute  of  a  sigh  from 


190  story's  discourse^ 

thousands  of  kindred  bear's?  That  the  stranger  and  the 
traveller  would  linger  on  the  spot  with  a  feeling  of  rever- 
ence ?  That  they,  the  very  mourners  themselves,  when 
they  should  revisit  it,  would  find  there  the  verdant  sod,  and 
the  fragrant  flower,  and  the  breezy  shade?  That  they 
might  there,  unseen,  except  of  God,  offer  up  their  prayers, 
or  indulge  the  luxury  of  grief?  That  they  might  there  real- 
ize,  in  its  full  force,  the  affecting  beatitude  of  the  scriptures  ; 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted  ?" 

Surely,  surely,  we  have  not  done  all  our  duty,  if  there  yet 
remains  a  single  incentive  to  human  virtue,  without  its  due 
play  in  the  action  of  life,  or  a  single  stream  of  happiness, 
which  has  not  been  made  to  flow  in  upon  the  waters  of 
affliction. 

Considerations,  like  those,  which  have  been  suggested, 
have  for  a  long  time  turned  the  thoughts  of  many  distin- 
guished citizens  to  the  importance  of  some  more  appro- 
priate places  of  sepulture.  There  is  a  growing  sense  in  the 
community  of  the  inconveniences,  and  painful  associations, 
not  to  speak  of  the  unhealthiness  of  interments,  beneath  our 
churches.  The  tide,  which  is  flowing  with  such  a  steady 
and  widening  current  into  the  narrow  peninsula  of  our  Me- 
tropolis, not  only  forbids  the  enlargement  of  the  common 
limits,  but  admonishes  us  of  the  increasing  dangers  to  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  from  its  disturbing  movements.  Already 
in  other  cities,  the  church-yards  are  closing  against  the  ad- 
mission of  new  incumbents,  and  b^gin  to  exhibit  the  sad 
spectacle  of  promiscuous  ruins  and  intermingled  graves. 

We  are,  therefore,  but  anticipating  at  the  present  moment 
the  desires,  nay  the  necessities  of  the  next  generation.  We 
are  but  exercising  a  decent  anxiety  to  secure  an  inviolable 
home  for  ourselves  and  our  posterity.  We  are  but  inviting 
our  children  and  their  descendants,  to  what  the  Moravian 
Brothers  have,  with  such  exquisite  propriety,  designated  as 
"the  Field  of  Peace." 

A  rural  Cemetery  seems  to  combine  in  itself  all  the  ad- 


AT    MOUNT    AUBURN.  191 

vantages,  which  can  ho  proposed  to  gratify  human  feeUngs, 
or  tranquillize  human  fears ;  to  secure  the  best  religious  in. 
fluences,  and  to  cherish  all  those  associations,  which  cast  a 
cheerful  light  over  the  darkness  of  the  grave. 

And  what  spot  can  be  more  appropriate  than  this,  for 
such  a  purpose?  Nature  seems  to  point  it  out  with  signi- 
ficant energy,  as  the  favorite  retirement  for  the  dead.  There 
are  around  us  all  the  varied  features  of  her  beauty  and 
grandeur — the  forest-crowned  height ;  the  abrupt  acclivity  ; 
the  sheltered  valley  ;  the  deep  glen  ;  the  grassy  glade  ;  and 
the  silent  grove.  Here  are  the  lofty  oak,  the  beech,  that 
"  wreathes  its  old  fantastic  roots  so  high,"  the  rustUng  pine, 
and  the  drooping  wdlow  ; — the  tree,  that  sheds  its  pale  leaves 
with  every  autumn,  a  fit  emblem  of  our  own  transitory  bloom  ; 
and  the  evergreen,  with  its  perennial  shoots,  instructing  us, 
that  "  the  wintry  blast  of  death  kills  not  the  buds  of  virtue." 
Here  is  the  thick  shrubbery  to  protect  and  conceal  the  new- 
made  grave  ;  and  there  is  the  wild-flower  creeping  along  the 
narrow  path,  and  planting  its  seeds  in  the  upturned  earth. 
All  around  us  there  breathes  a  solemn  calm,  as  if  we  were 
in  the  bosom  of  a  wilderness,  broken  only  by  the  breeze  as 
it  murmurs  through  the  tops  of  the  forest,  or  by  the  notes  of 
the  warbler  pouring  forth  his  matin  or  his  evening  song. 

Ascend  but  a  few  steps,  and  what  a  change  of  scenery  to 
surprise  and  delight  us.  We  seem,  as  it  were  in  an  instant, 
to  pass  from  the  confines  of  death,  to  the  bright  and  balmy 
regions  of  life.  Below  us  flows  the  winding  Charles  with 
its  rippling  current,  like  the  stream  of  time  hastening  to  the 
ocean  of  eternity.  In  the  distance,  the  City, — at  once  the 
object  of  our  admiration  and  our  love, — rears  its  proud  em- 
inences, its  glittering  spires,  its  lofty  towers,  its  graceful 
mansions,  its  curling  smoke,  its  crowded  haunts  of  business 
and  pleasure,  which  speak  to  the  eye,  and  yet  leave  a  noise- 
less loneliness  on  the  ear.  Again  we  turn,  and  the  walls  of 
our  venerable  University  rise  before  us,  with  many  a  rcc- 


192  story's  discourse, 

oUection  of  happy  days  passed  there  in  the  interchange  of 
study  and  friendship,  and  many  a  grateful  thought  of  the 
atfluence  of  its  learning,  which  has  adorned  and  nourished 
the  literature  of  our  country.  Again  we  turn,  and  the  cul- 
tivated farm,  the  neat  cottage,  the  village  church,  the  spark- 
ling lake,  the  rich  valley,  and  the  distant  hills,  are  before  us 
through  opening  vistas ;  and  we  breathe  amidst  the  fresh 
and  varied  labors  of  man. 

There  is,  therefore,  within  our  reach,  every  variety  of 
natural  and  artificial  scenery,  which  is  fitted  to  awaken 
emotions  of  the  highest  and  most  affecting  character.  We 
stand,  as  it  were,  upon  the  borders  of  two  worlds  ;  and  as 
the  mood  of  our  minds  may  be,  we  may  gather  lessons  of 
profound  wisdom  by  contrasting  the  one  with  the  other,  or 
indulge  in  the  dreams  of  hope  and  ambition,  or  solace  our 
hearts  by  melancholy  meditations. 

Who  is  there,  that  in  the  contemplation  of  such  a  scene, 
is  not  ready  to  exclaim  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Poet, 

"  Bline  be  the  breezy  hill,  that  skirts  the  down, 

Where  a  green,  grassy  turf  is  all  I  crave, 
With  here  and  there  a  violet  bestrown, 

Past  by  a  brook,  or  fountain's  murmuring  wave, 

And  may  an  evening  sun  shine  sweetly  on  my  gravel" 

And  we  are  met  here  to  consecrate  this  spot,  by  these 
solemn  ceremonies,  to  such  a  purpose.  The  Legislature  of 
this  Commonwealth,  with  a  parental  foresight  has  clothed 
the  Horticultural  Society  with  authority  (if  I  may  use  its 
own  language)  to  make  a  perpetual  dedication  of  it,  as  a 
Rural  Cemetery  or  Burying-Ground,  and  to  plant  and  em- 
beUish  it  with  shrubbery,  and  flowers,  and  trees,  and  walks, 
and  other  rural  ornaments.  And  I  stand  here  by  the  order, 
and  in  behalf  of  this  Society,  to  declare  that,  by  these  servi- 
ces, it  is  to  be  deemed  henceforth  and  forever  so  dedicated. 


AT   MOUNT   AUBURN.  193 

Mount  Auburn,  in  the  noblest  sense,  belongs  no  longer  to  the 
living,  but  to  the  dead.  It  is  a  sacred,  it  is  an  eternal  trust. 
It  is  consecrated  ground.     May  it  remain  forever  inviolate  ! 

What  a  multitude  of  thoughts  crowd  upon  the  mind  in  the 
contemplation  of  such  a  scene.  How  much  of  the  future, 
even  in  its  far  distant  reaches,  rises  before  us  with  all  its 
persuasive  reaUties.  Take  but  one  little  narrow  space  of 
time,  and  how  affecting  are  its  associations !  Within  the 
flight  of  one  half  century,  how  many  of  the  great,  the 
good,  and  the  wise,  will  be  gathered  here  !  How  many  in 
the  loveliness  of  infancy,  the  beauty  of  youth,  the  vigor  of 
manhood,  and  the  maturity  of  age,  will  lie  down  here,  and 
dwell  in  the  bosom  of  their  mother  earth !  The  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  gay  and  the  wretched,  the  favorites  of  thousands, 
and  the  forsaken  of  the  world,  the  stranger  in  his  solitary 
grave,  and  the  patriarch  surrounded  by  the  kindred  of  a  long 
lineage  !  How  many  will  here  bury  their  brightest  hopes, 
or  blasted  expectations !  How  many  bitter  tears  will  here 
be  shed  !  How  many  agonizing  sighs  will  here  be  heaved  ! 
How  many  trembling  feet  will  cross  the  pathways,  and  re- 
turning, leave  behind  them  the  dearest  objects  of  their  reve- 
rence or  their  love ! 

And  if  this  were  all,  sad  indeed,  and  funereal  would  be  our 
thoughts  ;  gloomy,  indeed,  would  be  these  shades,  and  deso- 
late these  prospects. 

But — thanks  be  to  God — the  evils,  which  he  permits,  have 
their  attendant  mercies,  and  are  blessings  in  disguise.  The 
bruised  reed  will  not  be  laid  utterly  prostrate.  The  wound- 
ed  heart  will  not  always  bleed.  The  voice  of  consolation 
will  spring  up  in  the  midst  of  the  silence  of  these  regions  of 
death.  The  mourner  will  revisit  these  shades  with  a  secret, 
though  melancholy  pleasure.  The  hand  of  friendship  will 
delight  to  cherish  the  flowers,  and  the  shrubs,  that  fringe 
the  lowly  grave,  or  the  sculptured  monument.  The  earliest 
beams  of  the  morning  will  play  upon  these  summits  with  a 

17 


194  story's  discourse, 

refreshing  cheerfulness  ;  and  the  Ungering  tints  of  evening 
hover  on  them  with  a  tranquiUzing  glow.  Spring  will  invite 
thither  the  footsteps  of  the  young  by  its  opening  foliage  ;  and 
Autumn  detain  the  contemplative  by  its  latest  bloom.  The 
votary  of  learning  and  science  will  here  learn  to  elevate  his 
genius  by  the  holiest  studies.  The  devout  will  here  offer  up 
the  silent  tribute  of  pity,  or  the  prayer  of  gratitude.  The 
rivalries  of  the  world  will  here  drop  from  the  heart  ;  the 
spirit  of  forgiveness  will  gather  new  impulses ;  the  selfishness 
of  avarice  will  be  checked  ;  the  restlessness  of  ambition  will 
be  rebuked  ;  vanity  will  let  fall  its  plumes ;  and  pride,  as  it 
sees  "  what  shadows  we  are,  and  what  shadows  we  pursue," 
will  acknowledge  the  value  of  virtue  as  far,  immeasurably  far, 
beyond  that  of  fame. 

But  that,  which  will  be  ever  present,  pervading  these 
shades,  like  the  noon-day  sun,  and  shedding  cheerfulness 
around,  is  the  consciousness,  the  irrepressible  consciousness, 
amidst  all  these  lessons  of  human  mortality,  of  the  higher 
truth,  that  we  are  beings,  not  of  time  but  of  eternity — "That 
this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal 
must  put  on  immortality."  That  this  is  but  the  threshold 
and  starting  point  of  an  existence,  compared  with  whose 
duration  the  ocean  is  but  as  a  drop,  nay  the  whole  creation 
an  evanescent  quantity. 

Let  us  banish,  then,  the  thought,  that  this  is  to  be  the  abode 
of  a  gloom,  which  will  haunt  the  imagination  by  its  terrors, 
or  chill  the  heart  by  its  solitude.  Let  us  cultivate  feelings 
and  sentiments  more  worthy  of  ourselves,  and  more  worthy 
of  Christianity.  Here  let  us  erect  the  memorials  of  our  love, 
and  our  gratitude,  and  our  glory.  Here  let  the  brave  re- 
pose, who  have  died  in  the  cause  of  their  country.  Here 
let  the  statesman  rest,  who  has  achieved  the  victories  of 
peace,  not  less  renowned  than  war.  Here  let  genius  find  a 
home,  that  has  sung  immortal  strains,  or  has  instructed  with 
still  diviner  eloquence.     Here  let  learning  and  science,  the 


AT    MOUNT    AUBURN.  195 

votaries  of  inventive  art,  and  the  teacher  of  the  philosophy 
of  nature  come.     Here   let  youth  and  beauty,  blighted  by 

premature  decay,  drop,  like  tender  blossoms,  into  the  virgin 
earth ;  and  here  let  age  retire,  ripened  for  the  harvest. 
Above  all,  here  let  the  benefactors  of  mankind,  the  good,  the 
merciful,  the  meek,  the  pure  in  heart,  be  congregated  ;  for 
to  them  belongs  an  undying  praise.  And  let  us  take  comfort, 
nay,  let  us  rejoice,  that  in  future  ages,  long  after  we  are 
gathered  to  the  generations  of  other  days,  thousands  of  kind- 
ling  hearts  will  here  repeat  the  sublime  declaration,  "  Bles- 
sed are  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from 
their  labors ;  and  their  works  do  follow  them," 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH,, 

ON  THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  FEDERAL  CONSTITUTION. 
BY  PATRICK  HENRY. 

Tiiis  government  is  so  new,  it  wants  a  name.  I  wish  its 
other  novelties  were  as  harmless  as  this.  He  told  us,  we 
had  an  American  dictator  in  the  year  1781.  We  never  had 
an  American  President.  In  making  a  dictator,  we  follow 
the  example  of  the  most  glorious,  magnanimous  and  skilful 
nations.  In  great  dangers  this  power  has  been  given. 
Rome  had  furnished  us  with  an  illustrious  example.  Amer- 
ica found  a  person  worthy  of  that  trust  :  she  looked  to 
Virginia  for  him.  We  gave  a  dictatorial  power  to  hands 
that  used  it  gloriously  ;  and  which  were  rendered  more  glo- 
rious by  surrendering  it  up.  Where  is  there  a  breed  of 
such  dictators  ?  Shall  we  find  a  set  of  American  presidents 
of  such  a  breed  ?  Will  the  American  President  come  and 
lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  Congress  his  laurels  ?  I  fear 
there  are  few  men  who  can  be  trusted  on  that  head.  The 
glorious  republic  of  Holland  has  erected  monuments  to  her 
warlike  intrepidity  and  valor  :  yet  she  is  now  totally  ruined 
by  a  stadtholder  ;  a  Dutch  president.  The  destructive  wars 
into  which  that  nation  has  been  plunged,  has  since  involved 
her  in  ambition.  The  glorious  triumphs  of  Blenheim  and 
Ramillies  were  not  so  conformable  to  the  genius,  nor  so 
much  to  the  true  interest  of  the  republic,  as  those  numerous 
and  useful  canals  and  dykes,  and  other  objects  at  which  am- 
bition spurns.  That  republic  has,  however,  by  the  industry 
of  its  inhabitants,  and  policy  of  its  magistrates,  suppressed 


HENRY^S    SPEECH.  197 

the  ill  effects  of  ambition.  Notwithstanding  two  of  their 
provinces  have  paid  nothing,  yet  I  hope  the  example  of 
Holland  will  tell  us,  that  we  can  live  happily  without  chang- 
ing our  present  despised  government.  Cannot  people  be  as 
happy  under  a  mild,  as  under  an  energetic  government? 
Cannot  content  and  feUcity  be  enjoyed  in  a  republic,  as 
well  as  in  a  monarchy,  because  there  are  whips,  chains  and 
scourges  used  in  the  latter  ?  If  I  am  not  as  rich  as  my 
neighbor,  if  I  give  my  mite,  my  all,  republican  forbearance 
will  say,  that  it  is  sufficient.  So  said  the  honest  confederates 
of  Holland  :  "  You  are  poor  ;  we  are  rich.  We  will  go  on 
and  do  better,  far  better,  than  be  under  an  oppressive  gov- 
ernment." Far  better  will  it  be  for  us  to  continue  as  we 
are,  than  go  under  that  tight,  energetic  government.  I 
am  persuaded  of  what  the  honorable  gentleman  says,  that 
separate  confederacies  will  ruin  us.  In  my  judgment,  they 
are  evils  never  to  be  thought  of  till  a  people  are  driven  by 
necessity.  When  he  asks  my  opinion  of  consolidation,  of 
one  power  to  reign  over  America,  with  a  strong  hand,  I  will 
tell  him,  I  am  persuaded  of  the  rectitude  of  my  honorable 
friend's  opinion,  (Mr.  Mason,)  that  one  government  cannot 
reign  over  so  extensive  a  country  as  this  is,  without  absolute 
despotism.  Compared  to  such  a  consolidation,  small  confed- 
eracies are  little  evils,  though  they  ought  to  be  recurrred  to, 
but  in  case  of  necessity.  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  are 
despised.  They  could  exist  separated  from  the  rest  of 
America.  Maryland  and  Vermont  were  not  overrun  when 
out  of  the  confederacy.  Though  it  is  not  a  desirable  object, 
yet  I  trust,  that  on  examination  it  will  be  found,  that  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina  would  not  be  swallowed  up  in  case 
it  was  necessary  for  them  to  be  joined  together. 

When  we  come  to  the  spirit  of  domestic  peace,  the  hum- 
ble  genius  of  Virginia  has  formed  a  government,  suitable  to 
the  genius  of  her  people.  I  believe  the  hands,  that  formed 
the  American  constitution,  triumph  in  the  experiment.     It 

proves,  that  the  man  who  formed  it,  and  perhaps  by  accident, 
17* 


198  henry's  speech  on 

did  what  design  could  not  do  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 
After  all  your  reforms  in  government,  unless  you  consult  the 
the  genius  of  the  inhabitants,  you  will  never  succeed  ;  your 
system  can  have  no  duration.  Let  me  appeal  to  the  can- 
dor  of  the  committee,  if  the  want  of  money  be  not  the  source 
of  all  our  misfortunes.  We  cannot  be  blamed  for  not  mak- 
ing dollars.  This  want  of  money  cannot  be  supplied  by 
changes  in  government.  The  only  possible  remedy,  as  I  have 
before  asserted,  is  industry  aided  by  economy.  Compare  the 
genius  of  the  people  with  the  government  of  this  country. 
Let  me  remark,  that  it  stood  the  severest  conflict,  during  the 
war,  to  which  human  virtue  has  ever  been  called.  I  call 
upon  every  gentleman  here  to  declare,  whether  the  king  of 
England  had  any  subjects  so  attached  to  his  family  and 
government — so  loyal  as  we  were.  But  the  genius  of  Vir- 
ginia called  us  for  liberty;  called  us  from  those  beloved 
endearments,  which,  from  long  habits,  we  were  taught  to 
love  and  revere.  We  entertained  from  our  earliest  infancy, 
the  most  sincere  regard  and  reverence  for  the  mother  coun- 
try. Our  partiaUty  extended  to  a  predilection  for  her  cus- 
toms,  habits,  manners  and  laws.  Thus  inclined,  when  the 
deprivation  of  our  liberty  was  attempted,  what  did  we  do  ? 
What  did  the  genius  of  Virginia  tell  us  ?  "  Sell  all  and  pur- 
chase liberty."  This  was  a  severe  conflict.  Republican 
maxims  were  then  esteemed.  Those  maxims,  and  the  gen- 
ius  of  Virginia  landed  you  safe  on  the  shore  of  freedom. 
On  this  awful  occasion,  did  you  want  a  federal  government. 
Did  federal  ideas  possess  your  minds  ?  Did  federal  ideas 
lead  you  to  tlie  most  splendid  victories  ?  I  must  again  re- 
peat the  favorite  idea,  that  the  genius  of  Virginia  did,  and 
will  again  lead  us  to  happiness.  To  obtain  the  most  splen- 
did prize,  you  did  not  consolidate.  You  accomplished  the 
most  glorious  ends,  by  the  assistance  of  the  genius  of  your 
country.  Men  were  then  taught  by  that  genius,  that  they 
were  fighting  for  what  was  most  dear  to  them.  View  the 
most  affectionate  father,  the  most  tender  mother,  operated 


fTHE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  199 

on  by  liberty,  nobly  stimulating  their  sons,  their  dearest 
sons,  sometimes  their  only  son,  to  advance  to  the  defence  of 
his  country.  We  have  seen  the  sons  of  Cincinnatus,  with- 
out splendid  magnificence  or  parade,  going,  with  the  genius 
of  their  great  progenitor  Cincinnatus,  to  the  plough — men 
who  served  their  country  without  ruining  it ;  men  who  had 
served  it  to  the  destruction  of  their  private  patrimonies ; 
their  country  owing  them  amazing  amounts,  for  the  pay- 
ment  of  which  no  adequate  provision  was  then  made.  We 
have  seen  such  men  throw  prostrate  their  arms  at  your  feet. 
They  did  not  call  for  those  emoluments,  which  ambition  pre- 
sents to  some  imaginations.  The  soldiers,  who  were  able 
to  command  every  thing,  instead  of  trampling  on  those  laws, 
which  tlrey  were  instituted  to  defend,  most  strictly  obeyed 
them.  The  hands  of  justice  have  not  been  laid  on  a  single 
American  soldier.  Bring  them  into  contrast  with  European 
veterans — you  will  see  an  astonishing  superiority  over  the 
latter.  There  has  been  a  strict  subordination  to  the  laws. 
The  honorable  gentleman's  office  gave  him  an  opportunity 
of  viewing  if  the  laws  were  administered  so  as  to  prevent 
riots,  routs  and  unlawful  assemblies.  From  his  then  situa- 
tion, he  could  have  furnished  us  with  the  instances  in  which 
licentiousness  trampled  on  the  laws.  Among  all  our  troub- 
les,  we  have  paid  almost  to  the  last  shilling,  for  the  sake  of 
justice  :  we  have  paid  as  well  as  any  state ;  I  will  not  saj^ 
better.  To  support  the  general  government  and  our  own 
legislature  ;  to  pay  the  interest  of  the  public  debts,  and  de- 
fray contingencies,  we  have  been  heavily  taxed.  To  add  to 
these  things,  the  distresses  produced  by  paper  money,  and 
by  tobacco  contracts,  were  sufficient  to  render  any  people 
discontented.  These,  sir,  were  great  temptations ;  but  in 
the  most  severe  conflict  of  misfortunes,  this  code  of  laws — 
this  genius  of  Virginia,  call  it  what  you  will,  triumphed  over 
every  thing. 

Why  did  it  please  the  gentleman,  (Mr  Corbin,)  to  bestow 
such  epithets  on  our  country  ?     Have  the  worms  taken  pos- 


200  henry's  spekch  on 

session  of  the  wood,  that  our  strong  vessel — our  poHtical 
vessel,  has  sprung  a  leak  ?  He  may  know  better  than  I,  but 
I  consider  such  epithets  to  be  the  most  illiberal  and  unwar- 
rantable aspersions  on  our  laws.  The  system  of  laws  under 
which  we  have  lived,  has  been  tried  and  found  to  suit  our 
genius.  I  trust  we  shall  not  change  this  happy  S5'stem.  I 
cannot  so  easily  take  leave  of  an  old  friend.  Till  I  see  him 
following  after  and  pursuing  other  objects  which  can  pervert 
the  great  objects  of  human  legislation,  pardon  me  if  I  with- 
hold  my  assent. 

Some  here  speak  of  the  difficulty  in  forming  a  new  code 
of  laws.  Young  as  we  were,  it  was  not  wonderful  if  there 
was  a  difficulty  in  forming  and  assimilating  our  system  of 
laws.  I  shall  be  obliged  to  the  gentleman,  if  he  would  point 
out  those  glaring,  those  great  faults.  The  efforts  of  assim- 
ilating our  laws  to  our  genius  have  not  been  found  altogeth- 
er vain.  I  shall  pass  over  some  other  circumstances  which 
I  intended  to  mention,  and  endeavor  to  come  to  the  capital 
objection,  which  my  honorable  friend  made.  My  worthy 
friend  said,  that  a  republican  form  of  government  would  not 
suit  a  very  extensive  country  ;  but  that  if  a  government 
were  judiciously  organized  and  limits  prescribed  to  it  ;  an 
attention  to  these  principles  might  render  it  possible  for  it 
to  exist  in  an  extensive  territory.  Whoever  will  be  bold  to 
say,  that  a  continent  can  be  governed  by  that  system,  con- 
tradicts  all  the  experience  of  the  world.  It  is  a  work  too 
great  for  human  wisdom.  Let  me  call  for  an  example.  Ex- 
perience has  been  called  the  best  teacher.  I  call  for  an 
example  of  a  great  extent  of  country,  governed  by  one  gov- 
ernment, or  Congress,  call  it  what  you  will.  I  tell  him  that 
a  government  may  be  trimmed  up  according  to  gentlemen's 
fancy,  but  it  never  can  operate  ;  it  will  be  but  very  short- 
lived. However  disagreeable  it  may  be  to  lengthen  my 
objections,  I  cannot  help  taking  notice  of  what  the  honora- 
ble gentleman  said.  To  me  it  appears  that  there  is  no 
check  in  that  government.     The  president,  senators  and 


THE    FEDERAL    CONSTITUTION.  201 

representatives  all  immediately,  or  mediately,  are  the  choice 
of  the  people.  Tell  me  not  of  checks  on  paper  ;  but  tell 
me  of  checks  founded  on  self-love.  The  English  govern- 
ment is  founded  on  self-love.  This  powerful,  irresistible 
stimulus  of  self-love  has  saved  that  government.  It  has 
interposed  that  hereditary  nobility  between  the  king  and 
commons.  If  the  house  of  lords  assists  or  permits  the  king 
to  overturn  the  liberties  of  the  people,  the  same  tyranny 
will  destroy  them ;  they  will  therefore  keep  the  balance  in 
the  democratic  branch.  Suppose  they  see  the  commons 
encroach  upon  the  king;  self-love,  that  great,  energetic 
check,  will  call  upon  them  to  interpose  ;  for,  if  the  king  be 
destroyed,  their  destruction  must  speedily  follow.  Here  is 
a  consideration  which  prevails  in  my  mind,  to  pronounce 
the  British  government  superior,  in  this  respect,  to  any  gov- 
ernment  that  ever  was  in  any  country.  Compare  this  with 
your  congressional  checks.  I  beseech  gentlemen  to  consid- 
er whether  they  can  say,  when  trusting  power,  that  a  mere 
patriotic  profession  will  be  equally  operative  and  efficacious, 
as  the  check  of  self-love.  In  considering  the  experience  of 
ages,  is  it  not  seen  that  fair,  disinterested  patriotism  and 
professions  of  attachment  to  rectitude,  have  never  been 
solely  trusted  to  by  an  enlightened,  free  people.  If  you  de- 
pend  on  your  president's  and  senators'  patriotism,  you  are 
gone.  Have  you  a  resting  place  like  the  British  govern- 
ment ?  Where  is  the  rock  of  your  salvation  ?  The  real 
rock  of  pohtical  salvation  is  self-love,  perpetuated  from  age 
to  age  in  every  human  breast,  and  manifested  in  every  ac- 
tion. If  they  can  stand  the  temptations  of  human  nature, 
you  are  safe.  If  you  have  a  good  president,  senators  and 
representatives,  there  is  no  danger.  But  can  this  be  ex- 
pected from  human  nature  ?  Without  real  checks,  it  will 
not  suffice  that  some  of  them  are  good.  A  good  president, 
or  senator,  or  representative  will  have  a  natural  weakness. 
Virtue  will  slumber  :  the  wicked  will  be  continually  watch- 
ing :  consequently  you  will  be  undone.     Where  are  your 


202  henry's  speech  on 

checks?  You  have  no  hereditary  nobility — an  order  of 
men,  to  whom  human  eyes  can  be  cast  up  for  reUef :  for, 
says  the  constitution,  there  is  no  title  of  nobility  to  bo  grant- 
ed ;  v/hich,  by  the  by,  would  not  have  been  so  dangerous,  as 
the  perilous  cession  of  powers  contained  in  that  paper  :  be- 
cause, as  Montesquieu  says,  when  you  give  titles  of  nobility, 
you  know  what  you  give  ;  but  when  you  give  power,  you 
know  not  what  you  give.  If  you  say,  that  out  of  this  de- 
praved mass,  you  can  collect  luminous  characters,  it  will  not 
avail,  unless  this  luminous  breed  will  be  propagated  from 
generation  to  generation  ;  and  even  then,  if  the  number  of 
vicious  characters  will  preponderate,  you  are  undone.  And 
that  this  will  certainly  bo  the  case,  is,  to  my  mind,  perfectly 
clear.  In  the  British  government,  there  arc  real  balances 
and  checks  ;  in  this  system,  there  are  only  ideal  balances. 
Till  I  am  convinced  that  there  are  actual,  efficient  checks,  I 
will  not  give  my  assent  to  its  establishment.  The  president 
and  senators  have  nothing  to  lose.  They  have  not  that  inter- 
est  in  the  preservation  of  government,  that  the  king  and 
lords  have  in  England.  They  will  therefore  be  regardless 
of  the  interests  of  the  people.  The  constitution  will  be  as 
safe  with  one  body,  as  v.ith  two.  It  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose of  human  legislation.  How  was  the  constitution  of 
England  when  only  the  commons  had  the  power  ?  I  need 
only  remark,  that  it  was  the  most  unfortunate  era  when  the 
country  returned  to  king,  lords  and  commons,  without  suffi- 
cient  responsibility  in  the  king.  When  the  commons  of 
England,  in  the  manly  language  which  became  freemen,  said 
to  their  king,  you  are  our  servant,  then  the  temple  of  liberty 
was  complete.  From  that  noble  source  have  we  derived  our 
lib3rty  :  that  spirit  of  patriotic  attachment  to  one's  country, 
that  zeal  for  liberty,  and  that  enmity  to  tyranny,  which  sig- 
nalized the  then  champions  of  liberty,  we  inherit  from  our 
British  ancestors.  And  I  am  free  to  own,  that  if  you  can- 
not  love  a  republican  government,  you  may  love  the  British 
monarchy  :  for,  although  the  king  is  not  sufficiently  respon- 


THE     FEDEKAL    CONSTITUTION.  203 

sible,  tlie  responsibility  of  his  agents,  and  the  efficient  checks 
interposed  by  the  British  constitution,  render  it  less  dangerous 
than  other  monarchies,  or  oppressive  tyrannical  aristocraciep. 
What  are  their  checks  of  exposing  accounts  ?  Their  checks 
upon  paper  are  inefficient  and  nugatory.  Can  you  search 
your  president's  closet  ?  Is  this  a  real  check  ?  We  ought  to 
be  exceedingly  cautious  in  giving  up  this  life,  this  soul — our 
money — this  power  of  taxation  to  Congress.  What  power- 
ful  check  is  there  here  to  prevent  the  most  extravagant  and 
proffigate  squandering  of  the  public  money?  What  security 
have  we  in  money  matters  ?  Inquiry  is  precluded  by  this 
constitution.  I  never  wish  te  see  Congress  supplicate  the 
states.  But  it  is  more  abhorrent  to  my  mind  to  give  them 
an  unlimited  and  unbounded  command  over  our  souls,  our 
lives,  our  purses,  without  any  check  or  restraint.  How  are 
you  to  keep  inquiry  alive  ?  How  discover  their  conduct  ? 
We  are  told  by  that  paper,  tliat  a  regular  statement  and  ac- 
count of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money, 
shall  be  published  from  time  to  time.  Here  is  a  beautiful 
check  !  What  time  ?  Here  is  the  utmost  latitude  left.  If 
those  who  are  in  Congress  please  to  put  that  construction 
upon  it,  the  words  of  the  constitution  will  be  satisfied  by  pub- 
lishing those  accounts  once  in  one  hundred  years.  They 
may  publish  or  not,  as  they  please.  Is  this  like  the  present 
despised  system,  whereby  the  accounts  are  to  be  published 
monthly  ? 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  DISCOURSE, 

IN  COMMEMORATION   OF  THE   LIVES   AND  SERVICES  OF 
JOHN  ADAMS  AND  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

BY  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  fellow-citizens,  were  suc- 
cessively Presidents  of  the  United  States.  The  comparative 
merits  of  their  respective  administrations  for  a  long  time 
agitated  and  divided  public  opinion.  They  were  rivals,  each 
supported  by  numerous  and  powerful  poi'tions  of  the  people, 
for  the  highest  office.  This  contest,  partly  the  cause,  and 
partly  the  consequence,  of  the  long  existence  of  two  great 
political  parties  in  the  country,  is  now  part  of  the  history  of 
our  government.  We  may  naturally  regret,  that  any  thing 
should  have  occurred  to  create  difference  and  discord,  be- 
tween  those  who  had  acted  harmoniously  and  efficiently  in 
the  great  concerns  of  the  revolution.  But  this  is  not  the 
time,  nor  this  the  occasion,  for  entering  into  the  grounds  of 
that  difference,  or  for  attempting  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the 
questions  which  it  involves.  As  practical  questions,  they 
were  canvassed,  when  the  measures  which  they  regarded 
were  acted  on  and  adopted  ;  and  as  belonging  to  history,  the 
time  has  not  come  for  their  consideration. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  wonderful,  that  when  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  went  first  into  operation,  different  opin- 
ions should  be  entertained,  as  to  the  extent  of  the  powers 
conferred  by  it.  Here  was  a  natural  source  of  diversity  of 
sentiment.  It  is  still  less  wonderful,  that  that  event,  about 
contemporary  with  our  government,  under  the  present  Con- 


Webster's  eulogy.  205 

stitution,  which  so  entirely  shocked  all  Europe,  and  disturb- 
ed our  relations  with  her  leading  powers,  should  be  thought, 
by  different  men,  to  have  different  bearings  on  our  own  pros- 
perity ;  and  that  the  early  measures,  adopted  by  our 
government,  in  consequence  of  this  new  state  of  things, 
should  be  seen  in  opposite  lights.  It  is  for  the  future  histo- 
rian, when  what  now  remains  of  prejudice  and  misconcep- 
tion shall  have  passed  away,  testate  these  different  opinions, 
and  pronounce  impartial  judgment.  In  the  mean  time,  all 
good  men  rejoice,  and  well  may  rejoice,  that  the  sharpest 
differences  sprung  out  of  measures,  which,  whether  right  or 
wrong,  have  ceased,  with  the  exigencies  that  gave  them 
birth,  and  have  left  no  permanent  effect,  either  on  the  Con- 
stitution, or  on  the  general  prosperity  of  the  country.  This 
remark,  I  am  aware,  may  be  supposed  to  have  its  exception, 
in  one  measure,  the  alteration  of  the  Constitution,  as  to  the 
mode  of  choosing  President ;  but  it  is  true,  in  its  general 
application.  Thus  the  course  of  policy  pursued  towards 
France,  in  179S,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  measures  of  com- 
mercial restriction,  commenced  in  1807,  on  the  other,  both 
subjects  of  warm  and  severe  opposition,  have  passed  away, 
and  left  nothing  behind  them.  They  were  temporary,  and 
Avhether  wise  or  unwise,  their  consequences  were  limited  to 
their  respective  occasions.  It  is  equally  clear,  at  the  same 
time,  and  it  is  equally  gratifying,  that  those  measures  of 
botli  administrations,  w  hich  were  of  durable  importance,  and 
which  drew  after  them  interesting  and  long  remaining  con- 
sequences, have  received  general  approbation.  Such  was 
the  organization,  or  rather  the  creation,  of  the  navy,  in  the 
administration  of  Mr.  Adams  ;  such  the  acquisition  of  Lou- 
isiana, in  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  The  country,  it  may  safely 
be  added,  is  not  likely  to  be  willing  either  to  approve,  or  to 
reprobate,  indiscriminately,  and  in  the  aggregate,  all  the 
measures  of  either,  or  of  any  administration.  The  dictate  of 
reason  and  of  justice  is,  that,  holding  each  one  his  own  senti- 
ments  on  the  points  in  difference,  we  imitate  the  great  men 
18 


'-i06  webstek's  eulogy, 

themselves,  in  the  forbearance  and  moderation  which  they 
have  cherished,  and  in  the  mutual  respect  and  kindness  which 
they  have  been  so  much  inclined  to  feel  and  to  reciprocate. 
No  men,  fellow-citizens,  ever  served  their  country  with 
more  entire  exemption  from  every  imputation  of  selfish  and 
mercenary  motive  than  those  to  whose  memory  we  are  pay- 
ing these  proofs  of  respect.  A  suspicion  of  any  disposition 
to  enrich  themselves,  or  to  profit  by  their  public  employ- 
ments, never  rested  on  either.  No  sordid  motive  approach- 
ed them.  The  inheritance  which  they  have  left  to  their 
children,  is  of  their  character  and  their  fame.  Fellow-citi- 
zens, I  will  detain  you  no  longer  by  this  faint  and  feeble 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead.  Even  in 
other  hands,  adequate  justice  could  not  be  performed,  within 
the  limits  of  this  occasion.  Their  highest,  their  best  praise, 
is  your  deep  conviction  of  their  merits,  your  affectionate 
gratitude  for  their  labors  and  services.  It  is  not  my  voice, 
it  is  this  cessation  of  oi'dinary  pursuits,  this  arresting  of  all 
attention,  these  solemn  ceremonies,  and  this  crowded  house, 
which  speak  their  eulogy.  Their  fame,  indeed,  is  safe. 
That  is  now  treasured  up,  beyond  the  reach  of  accident. 
Although  no  sculptured  marble  should  rise  to  their  memory, 
nor  engraved  stone  bear  record  of  their  deeds,  yet  will  their 
remembrance  be  as  lasting  as  the  land  they  honored.  Mar- 
ble columns  may  indeed,  moulder  into  dust,  time  may  erase 
all  impress  from  the  crumbling  stone,  but  their  fame  remains  ; 
for  with  American  liberty  it  rose,  and  with  American 
LIBERTY  ONLY  Can  it  pcrish.  It  was  the  last  swelling  peal 
of  yonder  choir,  '  their  bodies  are  buried  in  peace, 
BUT  their  name  liveth  evermore  '  I  catch  that  solemn 
song,   I  echo  that  lofty   strain  of  funeral   triumph,  'their 

NAME    LIVETH    EVERMORE.' 

Of  the  illustrious  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence there  now  remains  only  Charles  Carroll.  He  seems  an 
aged  oak,  standing  alone  on  the  plain,  which  time  has  spared 
a  little  longer,  after  all  its  contemporaries  have  been  levelled 


ON    ADAMS    AND    JEFFERSON.  207 

with  the  dust.  Venerable  object !  we  deUght  to  gather  round 
its  trunk,  while  yet  it  stands,  and  to  dwell  beneath  its 
shadow.  Sole  survivor  of  an  assembly  of  as  great  men  as 
the  world  has  witnessed,  in  a  transaction,  one  of  the  most 
important  that  history  i-ecords,  what  thoughts,  what  inter- 
esting reflections  must  fill  his  elevated  and  devout  soul !  If 
he  dwell  on  the  past,  how  touching  its  recollections  ;  if  he 
survey  the  present,  how  happy,  how  joyous,  how  full  of  the 
fruition  of  that  hope,  which  his  ardent  patriotism  indulged  ; 
if  he  glance  at  the  future,  how  does  the  prospect  of  his  coun- 
try's advancement  almost  bewilder  his  weakened  conception  ! 
Fortunate,  distinguished  patriot !  Interesting  relic  of  the 
past !  Let  him  know  that  while  we  honor  the  dead,  we  do 
not  forget  the  living ;  and  that  there  is  not  a  heart  here 
which  does  not  fervently  pray,  that  Heaven  may  keep  him 
yet  back  from  the  society  of  his  companions. 

And  now,  fellow-citizens,  let  us  not  retire  from  this  occa- 
sion, without  a  deep  and  solemn   conviction  of  the   duties 
which  have  devolved  upon  us.     This  lovely  land,  this  glori- 
rious  liberty,  these  benign  institutions,  the  dear  purchase  of 
our  fathers,  are  ours  ;  ours  to  enjoy,  ours  to  preserve,  ours 
to  transmit.     Generations   past,  and  generations  to   come, 
hold  us  responsible  for  this  sacred  trust.     Our  fathers,  from 
behind,  admonish  us,  with  their  anxious  paternal    voices, 
posterity  calls  out  to  us,  from  the  bosom  of  the  future,  the 
world  turns  hither  its  solicitous  eyes — all,  all  conjure  us  to 
act  wisely,  and  faithfully,  in  the  relation  which  we  sustain. 
We  can  never,  indeed,  pay  the  debt  which  is  upon  us ;  but 
by  virtue,  by  morality,  by  rehgion,  by  the  cultivation  of 
every  good  principle  and  every  good  habit,  we  may  hope  to 
enjoy  the  blessing,   through  our  day,  and  to  leave  it  unim- 
paired to  our  children.     Let  us  feel  deeply   how  much,  of 
what  we  arc  and  of  what  we  possess,  we  owe  to  this  Uberty, 
and  these  institutions  of  government.     Nature  has,  indeed, 
given  us  a  soil,  which  yields  bounteously   to    the  hands  of 
industry,  the  mighty  and  fruitful  ocean  is  before  us,  and  the 


208  Webster's  eulogy  opt 

skies  over  our  heads  shed  health  and  vigor.  But  what  are- 
lands,  and  seas,  and  skies,  to  civilized  man,  without  society, 
without  knowledge,  without  morals,  without  religious  cul- 
ture ;  and  how  can  these  be  enjoyed,  in  all  their  extent,  and 
all  their  excellence,  but  under  the  protection  of  wise  institu- 
tions and  a  free  government  ?  Fellow-citizens,  there  is  not 
one  of  us  here  present,  who  does  not,  at  this  moment,  and 
at  every  moment,  experience,  in  his  own  condition,  and  in 
the  condition  of  those  most  near  and  dear  to  him,  the  influ- 
ence and  the  benefits  of  this  liberty,  and  these  institutions. 
Let  us  then  acknowledge  the  blessing,  let  us  feel  it  deeply 
and  powerfully,  let  us  cherish  a  strong  affection  for  it,  and 
resolve  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  it.  The  blood  of  our 
fathers,  let  it  not  have  been  shed  in  vain  ;  the  great  hope  of 
posterity,  let  it  not  be  blasted. 

The  striking  attitude,  too,  in  which  we  stand  to  the  world 
around  us,  a  topic  to  which,  I  fear,  I  advert  too  often,  and 
dwell  on  too  long,  cannot  be  altogether  omitted  here.  Nei- 
ther individuals  nor  nations  can  perform  their  part  well, 
until  they  understand  and  feel  its  importance,  and  compre- 
hend and  justly  appreciate  all  the  duties  belonging  to  it.  It 
is  not  to  inflate  national  vanity,  nor  to  swell  a  light  and 
empty  feeling  of  self-importance,  but  it  is  that  we  may  judge 
justly  of  our  situation,  and  of  our  own  duties,  that  I  earnest- 
ly urge  this  consideration  of  our  position,  and  our  character, 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  It  cannot  be  denied,  but 
by  those  who  would  dispute  against  the  sun,  that  with 
America,  and  in  America,  a  new  era  commences  in  human 
affairs.  This  era  is  distinguished  by  Free  Representative 
Governments,  by  entire  religious  liberty,  by  improved  sys- 
tems  of  national  intercourse,  by  a  newly  awakened,  and  un- 
conquerable s})irit  of  free  inquiry,  and  by  a  difflision  of 
knowledge  through  the  community,  such  as  has  been  before 
altogether  unknown  and  unheard  of.  America,  America, 
our  country,  fellow-citizens,  our  own  dear  and  native  land, 
is  inseparably  connected,  fast  bound  up,  in  fortune  and  by 


ADAMS    AND    JEFFERSON.  209 

fate  with  these  great  interests.  If  they  fall,  we  fall  with 
them  ;  if  they  stand,  it  will  be  because  we  have  upholden 
them.  Let  us  contemplate,  then,  this  connexion  which 
binds  the  prosperity  of  others  to  our  own  ;  and  let  us  man- 
fully discharge  all  the  duties  which  it  imposes.  If  we 
cherish  the  virtues  and  the  principles  of  our  fathers.  Heaven 
will  assist  us  to  carry  on  the  work  of  human  liberty  and 
human  happiness.  Auspicious  omens  cheer  us.  Great  ex- 
amples are  before  us.  Our  own  firmament  now  shines 
brightly  upon  our  path.  Washington  is  in  the  clear 
upper  sky.  Those  other  stars  have  now  joined  the  Ameri- 
can constellation  ;  they  circle  round  their  centre,  and  the 
heavens  beam  with  new  light.  Beneath  this  illumination, 
let  us  walk  the  course  of  Ufe,  and  at  its  close,  devoutly  com- 
med  our  beloved  country,  the  common  parent  of  us  all,  to 
the  Divine  Benignity. 


18* 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  EULOGY, 

ON  WASHINGTON. 
BY  JOHN  M.  MASON,  D.  D. 

It  must  ever  be  difficult  to  compare  the  merits  of  Wash- 
ington's characters,  because  he  always  appeared  greatest 
in  that  which  he  last  sustained.  Yet  if  there  is  a  prefer- 
ence, it  must  be  assigned  to  the  lieutenant-general  of  the 
armies  of  America.  Not  because  the  duties  of  that  station 
were  more  arduous  than  those  which  he  had  often  perform- 
ed, but  because  it  more  fully  displayed  his  magnanimity. 
While  others  become  great  by  elevation,  Washington  be- 
comes greater  by  condescension.  Matchless  patriot !  to 
stoop,  on  public  motives,  to  an  inferior  appointment,  after 
possessing  and  dignifying  the  highest  offices !  Thrice  fa- 
vored country,  which  boasts  of  such  a  citizen  !  We  gaze 
with  astonishment :  we  exult  that  we  are  Americans.  We 
augur  every  thing  great,  and  good,  and  happy.  But  whence 
this  sudden  horror  ?  What  means  that  cry  of  agony  ?  Oh  ! 
'tis  the  shriek  of  America  !  The  fairy  vision  is  fled  :  Wash- 
INGTON  is — no  more  ! — 

"  How  are  the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished  !" 

Daughters  of  America,  who  erst  prepared  the  festal 
bower  and  the  laurel  wreath,  plant  now  the  cypress  grove, 
and  water  it  with  tears. 

"  How  are  the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished !" 

The  death  of  Washington,  Americans,  has  revealed  the 


mason's    eulogy.  211 

extent  of  our  loss.  It  has  given  us  the  final  proof  that  we 
never  mistook  him.  Take  his  affecting  testament,  and  read 
the  secrets  of  his  soul.  Read  all  the  power  of  domestic 
virtue.  Read  his  strong  love  of  letters  and  of  liherty. 
Read  his  fidelity  to  republican  principle,  and  his  jealousy  of 
national  character.  Read  his  devotedness  to  you  in  his 
military  bequests  to  near  relations.  "  These  swords,"  they 
are  the  words  of  Washington,  "  these  swords  are  accom- 
panied with  an  injunction  not  to  unsheath  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  shedding  of  blood,  except  it  be  for  self-defence,  or 
in  defence  of  their  country  and  its  rights  ;  and  in  the  latter 
case,  to  keep  them  unsheathed,  and  prefer  falling  with  them 
in  their  hands  to  the  relinquishment  thereof." 

In  his  acts,  Americans,  you  have  seen  the  man.  In  the 
complicated  excellence  of  character,  he  stands  alone.  Let 
no  future  Plutarch  attempt  the  iniquity  of  parallel.  Let  no 
soldier  of  fortune,  let  no  usurping  conqueror,  let  not  Alex- 
ander or  Caesar,  let  not  Cromwell  or  Bonaparte,  let  nono 
among  the  dead  or  the  living,  appear  in  the  same  picture 
with  Washington  :  or  let  them  appear  as  the  shade  to  his 
light. 

On  this  subject,  my  countrymen,  it  is  for  others  to  spec- 
ulate, but  it  is  for  us  to  feel.  Yet,  in  proportion  to  the  se- 
verity of  the  stroke,  ought  to  be  our  thankfulness  that  it 
was  not  inflicted  sooner.  Through  a  long  series  of  years 
has  God  preserved  our  Washington  a  public  blessing  :  and 
now  that  he  has  removed  him  forever,  shall  we  presume  to 
say.  What  doest  thou  ?  Never  did  the  tomb  preach  more 
powerfully  the  dependence  of  all  things  on  the  Most  High. 
The  greatest  of  mortals  crumble  into  dust,  the  moment  He 
commands.  Return,  ye  children  of  men.  Washington  was 
but  the  instrument  of  a  benignant  God.  He  sickens,  he 
dies,  that  we  may  learn  not  to  trust  in  men,  nor  to  make 
flesh  our  arm.  But  though  Washington  is  dead,  Jehovah 
lives.  God  of  our  fathers  !  be  our  God,  and  the  God  of  our 
children !  Thou  art  our  refuge  and  our  hope ;  the  pillar  of 


212  mason's  eulogy. 

our  strength  ;  the  wall  of  our  defence,  and  our  unfading 
glory  ! 

Americans !  this  God  who  raised  up  Wasiiiivgton,  and 
gave  you  liberty,  exacts  from  you  the  duty  of  cherishing  it 
with  a  zeal  according  to  knowledge.  Never  sully,  by  apathy 
or  by  outrage,  your  fair  inheritance.  Risk  not,  for  one 
moment,  on  visionary  theories,  the  solid  blessings  of  your 
lot.  To  you  particularly,  O  youth  of  America  !  applies  the 
solemn  charge.  In  all  the  perils  of  your  country,  remember 
Washington.  The  freedom  of  reason  and  of  right,  has 
been  handed  down  to  you  on  the  point  of  the  hero's  sword. 
Guard,  with  veneration,  the  sacred  deposit.  The  curse  of 
ages  will  rest  upon  you,  O  youth  of  America  !  if  ever  you  sur- 
render to  foreign  ambition,  or  domestic  lawlessness,  the  pre- 
cious liberties  for  which  Washington  fought,  and  your 
fathers  bled. 

I  cannot  part  with  you,  fellow-citizens,  without  urging 
the  long  remembrance  of  our  present  assembly.  This  day 
we  wipe  away  the  reproach  of  republics,  that  they  know  not 
how  to  be  grateful.  In  your  treatment  of  living  patriots, 
recall  your  love  and  your  regret  of  Washington.  Let  not 
future  inconsistency  charge  this  day  with  hypocrisy.  Hap- 
py America,  if  she  gives  an  instance  of  universal  principle 
in  her  sorrows  for  the  man  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  !" 


EXTRACT   FROM    A   EULOGY, 

OJV   LAFAYETTE. 

BY  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

There  have  been  those  who  have  denied  to  Lafayette  the 
name  of  a  great  man.  What  is  greatness  ?  Does  goodness 
belong  to  greatness,  and  make  an  essential  part  of  it  ?  If  it 
does,  who,  I  would  ask,  of  all  the  prominent  names  in  his- 
tory, has  run  through  such  a  career,  with  so  little  reproach, 
justly  or  unjustly,  bestowed  ?  Are  military  courage  and 
conduct  the  measure  of  greatness  ?  Lafayette  was  entrust, 
cd  by  Washington,  with  all  kinds  of  service  ; — the  laborious 
and  complicated,  which  required  skill  and  patience,  the  per- 
ilous that  demanded  nerve  ; — and  we  see  him  keeping  up  a 
pursuit,  effecting  a  retreat,  out-manceuvring  a  wary  adver- 
sary with  a  superior  force,  harmonizing  the  action  of  French 
regular  troops  and  American  militia,  commanding  an  assault 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  and  all  with  entire  success 
and  brilliant  reputation.  Is  the  readiness  to  meet  vast  re- 
sponsibility a  proof  of  greatness  ?  The  memoirs  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son show  us,  as  we  have  already  seen,  that  there  was  a  mo- 
ment in  1789,  when  Lafayette  took  upon  himself,  as  tho 
head  of  the  military  force,  the  entire  responsibility  of  laying 
down  the  basis  of  the  revolution.  Is  the  cool  and  bravo 
administration  of  gigantic  power  a  mark  of  greatness?  In 
all  the  whirlwind  of  the  Revolution,  and  when  as  comman- 
der-in-chief of  the  National  Guard,  an  organized  force  of 
three  millions  of  men,  who,  for  any  popular  purpose,  needed 
but  a  word,  a  look,  to  put  them  in  motion, — and  he  their 


214  Everett's  eulogy. 

idol, — we  behold  him  ever  calm,  collected,  disinterested; 
as  free  from  affectation  as  selfishness,  clothed  not  less  with 
humility  than  with  power.  Is  the  fortitude  required  to 
resist  the  multitude  pressing  onward  their  leader  to  glorious 
crime,  a  part  of  greatness  ?  Behold  him  the  fugitive  and  the 
victim,  when  he  might  have  been  the  chief  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Is  the  solitary  and  unaided  opposition  of  a  good  citi- 
zen to  the  pretensions  of  an  absolute  ruler,  whose  power 
was  as  boundless  as  his  ambition,  an  effort  of  greatness  ? 
Read  the  letter  of  Lafayette  to  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  refu- 
sing to  vote  for  him  as  consul  for  life.  Is  the  voluntary 
return,  in  advancing  years,  to  the  direction  of  affairs,  at  a 
moment  Uke  that,  when  in  1815,  the  ponderous  machinery 
of  the  French  empire  was  flying  asunder, — stunning,  rend- 
ing, crushing  thousands  on  every  side, — a  mark  of  greatness  ? 
Contemplate  Lafayette  at  the  tribune,  in  Paris,  when  allied 
Europe  was  thundering  at  its  gates,  and  Napoleon  yet  stood 
in  his  desperation  and  at  bay.  Are  dignity,  propriety, 
cheerfulness,  unerring  discretion  in  new  and  conspicuous 
stations  of  extraordinary  dehcacy,  a  sign  of  greatness? 
Watch  his  progress  in  this  country,  in  1824  and  1825,  hear 
him  say  the  right  word  at  the  right  time,  in  a  series  of  in- 
terviews, public  and  private,  crowding  on  each  other  every 
day,  for  a  twelve  month,  throughout  the  Union,  with  every 
description  of  persons,  without  ever  wounding  for  a  moment 
the  self-love  of  others,  or  forgetting  the  dignity  of  his  own 
position.  Lastly,  is  it  any  proof  of  greatness,  to  be  able  at 
the  age  of  seventy-three,  to  take  the  lead  in  a  successful  and 
bloodless  revolution  ; — to  change  the  dynasty, — to  organize, 
exercise,  and  abdicate  a  military  command  of  three  and  a 
half  milUons  of  men  ; — to  take  up,  to  perform,  and  lay  down 
the  most  momentous,  delicate,  and  perilous  duties,  without 
passion,  without  hurry,  without  selfishness?  Is  it  great,  to 
disregard  the  bribes  of  title,  office,  money  ; — to  live,  to  labor, 
and  suffer  for  great  public  ends  alone ; — to  adhere  to  princi- 
ple under  all  circumstances  ; — to  stand  before  Europe  and 


ON    LAFAYETTE.  215 

America  conspicuous,  for  sixty  years,  in  the  most  respon- 
sible stations,  the  acknowledged  admiration  of  all  good 
men. 

But  I  think  I  understand  the  proposition,  that  Lafayette 
was  not  a  great  man.  It  comes  from  the  same  school 
which  also  denies  greatness  to  Washington,  and  which  ac- 
cords it  to  Alexander  and  Csesar,  to  Napoleon  and  to  his 
conqueror.  When  I  analyze  the  greatness  of  these  distin- 
guished men,  as  contrasted  with  that  of  Lafayette  and 
Washington,  I  find  either  one  idea  omitted,  which  is  essential 
to  true  greatness,  or  one  included  as  essential,  which  belongs 
only  to  the  lowest  conception  of  greatness.  The  moral, 
disinterested,  and  purely  patriotic  qualities  are  wholly  want- 
ing in  the  greatness  of  Alexander  and  Ctesar ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  a  certain  splendor  of  success,  a  brilliancy 
of  result,  which,  with  the  majority  of  mankind,  marks  them 
out  as  the  great  men  of  our  race.  But  not  only  are  a  high 
morality  and  a  true  patriotism  essential  to  greatness, — but 
they  must  first  be  renounced  before  a  ruthless  career  of 
selfish  conquest  can  begin.  I  profess  to  be  no  judge  of  mili- 
tary combinations  ;  but  with  the  best  reflection  I  have  been 
able  to  give  the  subject,  I  perceive  no  reason  to  doubt  that, 
had  Lafayette,  like  Napoleon,  been  by  principle,  capable  of 
hovering  on  the  edges  of  ultra-revolutionism;  never  halting 
enough  to  be  denounced  ;  never  plunging  too  far  to  retreat  ; 
— but  with  a  cold  and  well-balanced  selfishness,  sustaining 
himself  at  the  head  of  affairs,  under  each  new  phase  of  the 
Revolution,  by  the  compliances  sufficient  to  satisfy  its  de- 
mauds, — he  might  have  anticipated  the  career  of  Napoleon. 
At  three  different  periods,  he  had  it  in  his  power,  without 
usurpation,  to  take  the  government  into  his  own  hands. 
He  was  invited,  urged  to  do  so.  Had  he  done  it,  and  made 
use  of  the  military  means  at  his  command,  to  maintain  and 
perpetuate  his  power, — he  would  then,  at  the  sacrifice  of  all 
his  just  claims  to  the  name  of  great  and  good,  have  reached 


216  Everett's  eulogy, 

that  which  vulgar  admiration  alone  worships, — the  great- 
ness  of  high  station  and  brilhant  success. 

But  it  was  of  the  greatness  of  Lafayette,  that  he  looked 
down  on  greatness  of  the  false  kind.  He  learned  his  lesson 
in  the  school  of  Washington,  and  took  his  first  practice  in 
victories  over  himself.  Let  it  be  questioned  by  the  venal 
apologists  of  time-honored  abuses, — let  it  be  sneered  at  by 
national  prejudice  and  party  detraction  ;  let  it  be  denied  by 
the  admirers  of  war  and  conquest ; — by  the  idolaters  of  suc- 
cess,— but  let  it  be  gratefully  acknowledged  by  good  men  ; 
by  Americans, — by  every  man,  who  has  sense  to  distinguish 
character  from  events  ;  who  has  a  heart  to  beat  in  concert 
with  the  pure  enthusiasm  of  virtue. 

But  it  is  more  than  time,  fellow-citizens,  that  I  commit 
the  memory  of  this  great  and  good  man  to  your  unprompted 
contemplation.  On  his  arrival  among  you,  ten  years  ago, 
— when  your  civil  fathers,  your  military,  your  children, 
your  whole  population  poured  itself  out,  as  one  throng,  to 
salute  him, — when  your  cannons  proclaimed  his  advent  with 
joyous  salvos, — and  your  acclamations  were  responded  from 
steeple  to  steeple,  by  the  voice  of  festal  bells,  with  what  de- 
lio-ht  did  you  not  listen  to  his  cordial  and  affectionate  words ; 
— '  I  beg  of  you  all,  beloved  citizens  of  Boston,  to  accept  the 
respectful  and  warm  thanks  of  a  heart  which  has  for  nearly 
half  a  century  been  devoted  to  your  illustrious  city  !'  That 
noble  heart, — to  which,  if  any  object  on  earth  was  dear,  that 
object  was  the  country  of  his  early  choice, — of  his  adoption, 
and  his  more  than  regal  triumph, — that  noble  heart  will 
beat  no  more  for  your  welfare.  Cold  and  motionless,  it  is 
already  mingling  with  the  dust.  While  he  lived,  you 
thronged  with  delight  to  his  presence, — you  gazed  with 
admiration  on  his  placid  features  and  venerable  form,  not 
wholly  unshaken  by  the  rude  storms  of  his  career  ;  and  now 
that  he  is  departed,  you  have  assembled  in  this  cradle  of  the 
liberties  for  which,  with  your  fathers,  he  risked  his  life,  to 
pay  the  last  honors  to  his  memory.     You  have  thrown  open 


ON    LAFAYETTE,  217 

these  consecrated  portals  to  admit  the  lengthened  train, 
which  has  come  to  discharge  the  last  public  offices  of  respect 
to  his  name.  I'ou  have  hung  these  venerable  arches,  for 
the  second  time  since  their  erection,  with  the  sable  badges 
of  sorrow.  You  have  thus  associated  the  meraoiy  of  La- 
fayette in  those  distinguished  honors,  which  but  a  few  years 
since  you  paid  to  your  Adams  and  Jefferson  ;  and  could  your 
wishes  and  mine  have  prevailed,  my  lips  would  this  day 
have  been  mute,  and  the  same  illustrious  voice  which  gave 
utterance  to  your  filial  emotions  over  their  honored  graves, 
would  have  spoken  also,  for  you,  over  him  who  shared  their 
earthly  labors, — enjoyed  their  friendship, — and  has  now 
gone  to  share  their  last  repose,  and  their  imperishable  re- 
membrance. 

There  is  not,  throughout  the  world,  a  friend  of  liberty, 
who  has  not  dropped  his  head,  when  he  has  heard  that  La' 
fayette  is  no  more.  Poland,  Italy,  Greece,  Spain,  Ireland, 
the  South  American  Republics, — every  country  v/here  man 
is  sti'ussling  to  recover  his  birthright, — has  lost  a  benefac- 
tor,  a  patron,  in  Lafayette.  But  you,  young  men,  at  whose 
command  I  speak,  for  you  a  bright  and  particular  lodestar 
is  henceforward  fixed  in  the  front  of  heaven.  What  young 
man  that  reflects  on  the  history  of  Lafayette, — that  sees 
him  in  the  morning  of  his  days  the  associate  of  sages, — the 
friend  of  Washington, — but  will  start  with  new  vigor  on 
the  path  of  duty  and  renown  ? 

And  what  was  it,  fellow-citizens,  which  gave  to  our  La- 
fayette his  spotless  fame  ?  The  love  of  liberty.  What 
has  consecrated  his  memory  in  hearts  of  good  men  ?  The 
love  of  liberty.  What  nerved  his  youthful  arm  with 
strength,  and  inspired  him  in  the  morning  of  his  days,  with 
sagacity  and  counsel  ?  The  living  love  of  Ubei'ty.  To 
what  did  he  sacrifice  power,  and  rank,  and  country,  and 
freedom  itself  ?  To  the  horror  of  licentiousness  ; — to  the 
sanctity  of  plighted  faith  ; — to  the  love  of  liberty  protected 
by  law.  Thus  the  great  principle  of  your  revolutionary 
19 


218  Everett's  eulogy. 

fathers,  of  your  pilgrim  sires,  the  great  principle  of  the  age, 
was  the  rule  of  his  life :   The  love  of  liberty  protected  by  law. 
You  have  now  assembled  within  these  celebrated  walls,  to 
perform  the  last  duties  of  respect  and  love,  on  the  birth  day 
of  your  benefactor,  beneath  that  roof  which  has  resounded  of 
old  with  the  master  voices  of  American  renown.     The  spirit 
of  the  departed  is  in  high  communion  with  that  spirit  of  the 
place  ; — the  temple  worthy  of  the  new  name  which  we  now 
behold  inscribed  on  its  walls.     Listen,  Americans,  to  the  les- 
sons which  seem  borne  to  us  on  the  very  air  we  breathe, 
while  we  perform  these  dutiful  rites  !     Ye  winds,  that  wafted 
the  Pilgrims  to  the  land  of  promise,  fan,  in  their  children's 
hearts,  the  love   of  freedom ; — Blood,   which  our  father's 
shed,  cry  from  the    ground; — Echoing  arches  of  this  re- 
nowned hall,  whisper  back  the  voices  of  other  days  ; — Glo- 
rious Washington,  break  the  long  silence  of  that  votive  can- 
vass ; — Speak,  speak,  marble  lips,  teach  us  the  love  of 

LIBERTY     PROTECTED    BY     LAW  ! 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED    ON    THE    AUTHOR'S    BEING    INAUGURATED 
PRESIDENT  OF  AMHERST  COLLEGE. 

BY  HEMAN   HUMPHREY,  D.  D. 

— oo©— 

Convened  as  we  are  this  day,  in  the  portals  of  science 
and  literature,  and  with  their  arduous  heights  and  profound 
depths  and  Elysian  fields  before  us,  education  offers  itself  as 
the  inspiring  theme  of  our  present  meditations.  This  in  a 
free,  enlightened,  and  christian  state,  is  confessedly  a  subject 
of  the  highest  moment.  How  can  the  diamond  reveal  its 
lustre  from  beneath  incumbent  rocks  and  earthly  strata? 
How  can  the  marble  speak,  or  stand  forth  in  all  the  divine 
symmetry  of  the  human  form,  till  it  is  taken  from  the  quarry 
and  fashioned  by  the  hand  of  the  artist  ?  And  how  can 
man  be  intelligent,  happy,  or  useful,  without  the  culture  and 
discipline  of  education  ?  It  is  this  that  smooths  and  polishes 
the  roughnesses  of  his  nature.  It  is  this,  that  unlocks  the 
prison  house  of  his  mind  and  brings  out  the  captive.  It  is 
the  transforming  hand  of  education,  which  is  now,  in  so 
many  heathen  lands,  moulding  savageness  and  ignorance, 
pagan  fanaticism  and  brutal  stupidity,  revenge  and  treach- 
ery  and  lust — and  in  short,  all  the  warring  elements  of  our 
lapsed  nature,  into  the  various  forms  of  exterior  decency,  of 
mental  Bymmetry,  and  of  christian  loveliness.  It  is  educa- 
tion that  pours  light  into  the  understanding,  lays  up  its 
golden  treasures  in  the  memory,  softens  the  asperities  of 
the  temper,  cheeks  the  waywardness  of  passion  and  appe- 


220 


HUMPHREY  S 


tite,  and  trains  to  habits  of  industry,  temperance,  and  be- 
nevolence. It  is  this  which  quaUfies  men  for  the  pulpit,  the 
senate,  the  bar,  the  art  of  healing,  and  the  bench  of  justice. 
It  is  to  education,  to  its  domestic  agents,  its  schools  and 
colleges,  its  universities  and  literary  societies,  that  the 
world  is  indebted  for  a  thousand  comforts  and  elegancies  of 
civiUzed  life,  for  almost  every  useful  art,  discovery,  and  in- 
vention. 

In  a  word,  education,  regarding  man  as  a  rational,  ac- 
eountable  and  immortal  being,  elevates,  expands,  and  en- 
riches his  mind  ;  cultivates  the  best  affections  of  his  heart  ; 
pours  a  thousand  sweet  and  gladdening  streams  around  the 
dweUings  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  mansions  of  the  rich, 
and  while  it  greatly  multiplies  and  enhances  the  enjoyments 
of  time,  helps  to  train  up  the  soul  for  the  bliss  of  eternity. 

How  extremely  important,  then,  is  every  inquiry  which 
relates  to  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind — to  the  early 
discipline  and  cultivation  of  its  noble  powers — to  the  com- 
parative merits  and  defects  of  classical  books  and  prevailing- 
systems  of  instruction — to  the  advantages  accruing  from 
mathematical  and  other  abstruse  studies — to  the  means  of 
educating  the  children  of  the  poor  in  our  public  seminaries 
— to  the  present  state  of  science  and  literature  in  our  coun- 
try ;  and  to  the  animating  prospects  which  are  opening 
before  us.  All  these  topics  and  many  more,  present  them- 
selves to  the  enlightened  and  philanthropic  mind,  as  it  looks 
abroad  from  some  commanding  eminence,  or  ranges  at  leis- 
ure over  the  wide  and  busy  fields  of  human  improvement. 
It  must  be  obvious,  however,  upon  a  moment's  reflection, 
that  it  would  take  many  a  long  day  to  traverse  a  space  so 
ample  ;  to  drink  at  every  CastaUan  fountain  by  the  way  ;  to 
take  the  altitudes]of  Parnassus  ;  to  measure  th  esteeps  of  sci- 
ence ;  and  to  see  what  is  going  forward  in  a  thousand  splendid 
literary  halls  and  wonder-working  laboratories.  How  little, 
then,  can  be  done  within  the  brief  hour,  which  is  allotted  to 
the  present  exercises.     Upon  many  very  interesting  objects 


INAUGUKAL    DISCOURSE. 


221 


and  enclosures  we  can  scarcely  bestow  a  passing. glance, 
and  can  linger  for  a  few  moments  only,  where  most  we 
might  love  to  dwell,  or  at  least  to  sit  down  at  our  leisure 
and  enjoy  the  goodly  prospect. 

In  treating  of  education,  we  may  advantageously  divide 
the  subject,  into  the  three  great  branches  of  ■physical,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  improvement.  Under  these  topics,  we 
shall  include  all  that  is  requisite  to  form  a  sound  and  healthy 
body,  a  vigorous  and  well  stored  mind,  and  a  good  heart. 
If  the  first  of  these,  or  what  I  choose  to  call  the  physical 
part  of  education,  has  not  been  fully  overlooked,  (as  it  cer- 
tainly has  not,)  in  our  most  popular  systems,  still  it  may 
well  be  questioned,  whether  it  has  yet  received  that  degree 
of  attention,  which  its  immense  importance  demands. 

Such,  in  our  present  condition,  is  the  mysterious  connex- 
ion  between  body  and  mind,  that  the  one  cannot  act,  except 
on  a  very  limited  scale,  without  the  assistance  of  the  other. 
The  immortal  agent  must  have  an  '  earthly  house'  to  dwell  in  ; 
and  it  is  essential  to  vigorous  and  healthful  mental  action,  that 
this  house  should  be  well  built,  and  that  it  should  be  kept  in 
good  repair.  Now,  it  is  the  province  of  physical  education, 
to  erect  the  building,  and  in  carrying  it  up  to  have  special 
reference  to  its  firmness  and  durability  ;  so  that  the  unseen 
tenant,  who  is  sent  down  to  occupy  it,  may  enjoy  every 
convenience,  and  be  enabled  to  work  to  the  very  best  advan- 
tage. 

That  is  undoubtedly  the  wisest  and  best  regimen,  which 
takes  the  infant  from  the  cradle,  and  conducts  him  along 
through  childhood  and  youth,  up  to  high  maturity,  in  such 
a  manner,  as  to  give  strength  to  his  arm,  swiftness  to  hie 
feet,  solidity  and  amplitude  to  his  muscles,  symmetry  to  his 
frame,  and  expansion  to  all  his  vital  energies.  It  is  obvi- 
ous, that  this  branch  of  education,  comprehends  not  only 
food  and  clothing  ;  but  air,  exercise,  lodging,  early  rising, 
and  whatever  else  may  contribute  to  the  full  dcvelopement 

of  the  physical  constitution. 
19* 


222  Humphrey's 

If,  then,  you  would  see  the  son  of  your  prayers  and  hopes, 
blooming  with  health,  and  rejoicing  daily  in  the  full  and 
sparkling  tide  of  youthful  buoyancy ;  if  you  would  make 
him  strong  and  athletic  and  careless  of  fatigue  ;  if  you 
Mould  fit  him  for  hard  labor  and  safe  exposure  to  winter  and 
summer ;  or  if  you  would  prepare  him  to  sit  down  twelve 
hours  in  a  day  over  Euclid,  Enfield,  and  Newton,  and  stiU 
presence  his  health,  you  must  lay  the  foundation  accordingly. 
You  must  begin  with  him  early,  must  teach  him  self-denial, 
and  gradually  subject  him  to  such  hardships,  as  will  help  to 
consolidate  his  frame  and  give  increasing  energy  to  all  his 
physical  powers.  His  diet  must  be  simple,  his  apparel  must 
not  be  too  warm,  nor  his  bed  too  soft.  Beware  of  too  much 
tenderness  and  restraint,  in  the  management  of  your  darling 
boy. 

Never  suffer  yourself  to  bs  discomposed  by  his  sand  hills 
in  the  road,  his  snow  forts  in  February,  or  his  muddams  in 
April ; — nor  when  you  chance  to  look  out  in  an  August 
shower,  and  see  him  wading  and  sporting  along  with  the 
water-fowl.  If  you  would  make  him  hardy  and  enterprising, 
let  him  go  abroad  with  perfect  freedom,  in  his  early  boyhood, 
and  amuse  himself  by  the  hour  together,  on  the  ice,  and  in 
the  snow  drifts.  Instead  of  keeping  him  shut  up  all  day, 
and  graduating  his  sleeping  room  by  Fahrenheit,  let  him 
face  the  keen  edge  of  the  north  wind,  when  the  mercury  is 
below  cypher,  and  instead  of  minding  a  little  shivering  when 
he  returns,  applaud  his  resolution,  and  encourage  him  to 
sally  out  again.  In  this  way,  you  will  teach  him  that  he 
was  not  born  to  live  in  the  nursery,  nor  to  brood  over  the 
kitchen  fire ;  but  to  range  abroad  as  free  as  the  air,  and  to 
gain  warmth  from  exercise.  I  love  and  admire  the  youth, 
who  turns  not  back  from  the  howling  wintry  blast,  nor  with- 
ers under  the  blaze  of  summer : — vfho  never  magnifies  'mole- 
hills into  mountains'  but  whose  daring  eye,  scales  the  eagle's 
airy  crag,  and  who  is  ready  to  undertake  anything  that  is 
lawful,  within  the  range  of  possibility. 


INAUGURAL  DISCOURSE.  223 

Who  would  think  of  planting  the  mountain  oak  in  a  green 
house,  or  of  rearing  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  in  a  lady's  flower 
pot  ?  Who  does  not  know  that  in  order  to  attain  their 
mighty  strength  and  majestic  forms,  they  must  freely  enjoy 
the  rain  and  the  sunshine,  and  feel  the  rocking  of  the  tem- 
pest ?  Who  would  think  of  raising  up  a  band  of  Indian 
warriors,  upon  cakes  and  jellies  and  beds  of  down,  and  amid 
all  the  luxuries  and  ease  of  wealth  and  carefulness  ?  The 
attempt  would  be  highly  preposterous,  not  to  say  supremely 
ridiculous.  It  is  the  plain  and  scanty  fare  of  these  sons  of 
the  forest,  their  hard  and  cold  lodging,  their  long  marches 
and  fastings,  and  their  constant  exposure  to  all  the  hard- 
ships  of  the  wilderness,  which  give  them  such  Herculean 
limbs  and  stature  ;  such  prodigious  might  in  the  deadly  fray, 
and  such  swiftness  of  foot  in  pursuing  the  vanquished. 

I  am  far,  however,  from  saying,  that  such  training,  would 
ensure  to  every  child  the  arm  of  Achilles,  or  the  courage  of 
Logan,  or  the  constitution  and  daring  of  Martin  Luther. 
Some  would  doubtless  sink  under  the  discipline  ;  but  not 
near  so  many,  as  is  generally  supposed.  The  truth  is,  there 
is  a  mistaken  tenderness  which  daily  interferes  v.'ith  the 
health-giving  economy  of  heaven.  Too  many  parents,  in- 
stead  of  building  upon  the  foundation  which  God  has  laid, 
first  subvert  that  foundation  by  misplaced  indulgences,  and 
then  vainly  attempt  to  build  among  the  ruins.  They  so 
cross  and  perplex  nature,  in  her  efforts  to  make  their  chil- 
dren strong  and  healthy,  that  she  at  length  refuses  to  do 
anything,  and  the  doating  parents  are  left  to  patch  up 
the  shattered  and  puny  constitution  as  well  as  they  can, 
with  tonics  and  essences.  In  this  way,  not  a  few  young 
men  of  good  talents,  are  rendered  physically  incapable  of 
pursuing  their  studies  to  any  advantage.  They  can  never 
bear  the  fatigue  of  close  and  long  continued  application. 
The  mind  would  gladly  work,  but  the  earthly  tabernacle  is 
so  extremely  frail,  that  every  vigorous  effort  shakes  it  to 
the  foundation.     It  is  like  setting  up  the  machinery  of  an 


224  Humphrey's 

iron  works,  in  a  mere  shed,  without  studs  or  braces — or  like 
attempting  to  raise  the  steam  for  a  large  ship  in  a  tin 
boiler.  Whatever  talents  a  youth  may  possess,  he  can  ac- 
complish  but  little,  without  a  good  constitution  to  sustain 
his  mental  efforts  ;  and  such  a  constitution  is  not  a  blessing 
to  be  enjoyed  of  course.  Like  almost  every  other  gift  of 
heaven,  it  is  to  be  obtained  by  human  providence,  and  in 
the  use  of  means  adapted  to  the  end.  How  many  who  begin 
well,  ultimately  fail  of  eminence  and  usefulness,  through  ex. 
cessive  tenderness  and  for  want  of  skill  and  care  in  their  early 
physical  education,  it  is  impossible  to  say  ;  but  that  many 
a  young  man  is  doomed  to  lingering  imbecility,  or  to  a  pre- 
mature grave  by  this  kind  of  mismanagement,  and  that  the 
subject  on  which  I  have  hazarded  the  foregoing  remarks,  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  vital  interests  of  the  church, 
and  the  state,  will  not,  I  think,  be  questioned. 


In  looking  round,  this  day,  from  the  spot  where  we  now 
stand  ;  in  thinking  of  the  past  and  then  of  the  future,  what 
emotions  of  gratitude  and  hope  fill  the  benevolent  mind  ! 
Whence  these  walls,  built  in  troublous  times— these  goodly 
edifices,  which  greet  the  eye  and  gladden  the  heart  from 
afar  ?  Whence  this  youthful  band  of  brethren,  dwelling  to. 
gether  in  unity,  improving  their  minds  by  an  elevated  course 
of  study,  and  so  many  of  them  walking,  as  we  trust,  in  the 
'  ways  of  pleasantness  and  in  the  paths  of  peace  ?'  Whence 
all  that  our  eyes  now  see  and  our  ears  hear  ?  Verily  God 
hath  heard  the  prayers  of  his  servants,  and  blessed  the  work 
of  their  hands.  Hitherto,  may  they  say,  hath  the  Lord 
helped  us  ! 

And  will  he  frown  all  that  is  before  us  into  ruins  and  for. 
getfulness  ?  Will  he  forsake  this  comely  daughter  of  Zion 
in  her  tender  years,  and  after  giving  her  so  many  tokens  of 
his  favor  ?  We  cannot  bcheve  it.  He  may  afflict  her  still 
more,  but  surely  he  will  cherish  her  growth,  he  will  comfort 


INAUGURAL    DISCOURSE.  225 

her  heart,  he  will  raise  her  up  friends.  Under  his  smiles 
and  sustained  by  his  arm,  she  will  hold  on  her  way,  and  as 
she  advances,  will  scatter  blessings  with  both  her  hands  upon 
many,  who  are  famishing  for  the  bread  of  life.  She  will  not 
envy  her  elder  sisters,  who  have  riches,  ward-robes,  and  are 
moving  in  higher  spheres  than  her  own  : — but  she  will  em- 
ulate  their  virtues,  rejoice  in  their  prosperity,  strive  to  de- 
serve their  affection,  and  seek  for  herself  that  '  adorning  of 
a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  in  the  sight  of  God  is  of  great 
price.'  In  this  quiet,  modest,  and  beneficent  course,  who 
can  wish  her  anything  but  success?  Where  is  the  hand, 
that  would  rudely  thrust  her  back,  or  the  heart  that  can  tri- 
umph  in  her  disappointments, — that  can  rejoice  in  her 
afflictions  ?  Should  she  be  '  reviled,  however,  let  her  net 
revile  again.'  Should  '  one  cheek  be  smitten,  let  her  turn 
the  other  also!'  Let  the  same  mind  be  in  her  which  was  iu 
Christ  Jesus,  and  she  can  have  nothing  to  fear. 

As  we  cast  our  eyes  down  the  long  track  of  time,  from 
this  consecrated  eminence,  how  many  bright  and  interest- 
ing  visions  crowd  upon  our  view.  We,  indeed,  shall  soon 
be  gone  ;  but  other  generations  will  come,  and  what  may 
they  not  enjoy  and  accomplish,  canopied  as  they  will  be,  by 
these  Arcadian  skies,  invigorated  by  the  pure  breath  of 
these  mountains,  and  inspired  to  rapture  and  to  song  as  they 
look  abroad  upon  all  the  riches,  life,  and  beauty  of  this  great 
amphitheatre  ]  How  many  favored  sons  of  this  institution, 
will  hold  sweet  converse  here,  with  the  muse  that  loves  the 
hill  of  Zion  !  How  many  statesmen,  historians,  and  orators 
will  be  trained  on  this  ground,  to  shine  in  senates,  to  grace 
the  bar,  to  adorn  the  bench  of  justice,  and  to  record  the 
doings  of  the  wise,  the  brave,  and  the  good  !  But  more  than 
all,  what  may  not  this  seminary  do  for  the  churches  at  home 
— what  victories  may  she  not  gain  in  distant  lands,  by 
sending  forth  her  sons  under  the  banner  of  the   cross,  and 


226  Humphrey's  discourse. 

clad  in  armor  of  heavenly  temper  to  fight  the  battles  of 
her  King? 

Who  is  there  in  this  assembly,  that  is  not  ready  to  answer, 
May  these  glowing  anticipations  be  more  than  realized,  in 
the  future  prosperity  and  usefulness  of  this  Institution  ?  May 
it  live  to  gladden  and  bless  the  church  through  all  future 
generations  ;  and  in  that  world,  where  holiness  is  perfect 
and  knowledge  is  transcendant,  may  all  its  founders,  patrons, 
and  friends  meet,  and  dwell  together  forever  in  the  presence 
of  God  and  the  Lamb. 


EXTRACT  FROM   AN  ORATION, 

DELIVERED  AT  PLYMOUTH,  DECEMBER  22,  1824, 

BY  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

No  character  is  perfect  among  nations,  more  than  among 
men  ;  but  it  must  needs  be  conceded,  that  after  our  own 
country,  England  is  the  most  favored  abode  of  hberty  ;•  or 
rather,  tliat  besides  our  own  it  is  the  only  land  where  liberty 
can  be  said  to  exist  ;  the  only  land  where  the  voice  of  the 
sovereign  is  not  stronger  than  the  voice  of  the  law.  We 
can  scarce  revolve  with  patience,  the  idea,  that  we  might 
have  been  a  Spanish  colony,  a  Portuguese  colony,  or  a 
Dutch  colony  ;  we  can  scarcely  compare  with  coolness,  the 
inheritance  of  those  institutions,  which  were  transmitted  to 
us  by  our  fathers,  with  that  which  we  must  have  received 
from  almost  any  other  country ;  absolute  government,  mili- 
tary despotism,  and  the  holy  inquisition.  What  would  have 
been  the  condition  of  this  flourishing  and  happy  land,  had 
these  been  the  institutions,  on  which  its  settlement  was 
founded  ?  There  are,  unfortunately,  too  many  materials  for 
answering  this  question,  in  the  history  of  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  settlements  on  the  American  continent,  from 
the  first  moment  of  unrelenting  waste  and  desolation,  to  the 
distractions  and  conflicts,  of  which  we  ourselves  are  the  wit- 
nesses. What  hope  can  there  be  for  the  colonies  of  nations, 
which  possess  themselves  no  spring  of  improvement  ;  and 
tolerate  none  in  the  regions  over  which  they  rule ;  whose 
administration  sets  no  bright  examples  of  political  independ- 
ence ;  whose  languages  send  out  no  reviving  lessons  of  sound 


228  Everett's  oration, 

and  practical  science,  (afraid  of  nothing  that  is  true,)  of 
manly  literature,  of  free  speculation;  but  repeat,  with  every 
ship  that  crosses  the  Atlantic,  the  same  debasing  voice  of 
despotism,  credulity,  superstition,  and  slavery  ? 

What  citizen  of  our  republic  is  not  grateful,  in  the  con- 
trast which  our  history  presents  ?     Who  does  not  feel,  what 
reflecting  American  does  not  acknowledge,  the  incalculable 
advantages  derived  to  this  land,  out  of  the  deep  foundations 
of  civil,  intellectual,  and  moral  truth,  from  which  we  have 
drawn  in  England  ?  What  American  does  not  feel  proud  that 
he  is  descended  from  the  countrymen  of  Bacon,  of  Newton, 
and  of  Locke  ?  Who  does  not  know,  that  while  every  pulse  of 
civil  liberty  in  the  heart  of  the  British  empire  beat  warm  and 
full  in  the  bosom  of  our  fathers  ;  the  sobriety,  the  firmness, 
and   the   dignity   with  which  the  cause   of  free  principles 
struggled  into  existence  here,  constantly  found  encourage- 
ment and  countenance  from  the  sons  of  liberty  there  ?  Who 
does  not  remember,  that  when  the  Pilgrims  went  over  the 
sea,  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  British  confessors,  in  all  the 
quarters   of  their  dispersion,   went  over  with   them,  while 
their  aching  eyes  were  strained,  till  the  star  of  hope  should 
go  up  in  the  western  skies  ?     And  who  will  ever  forget,  that 
in  that  eventful  struggle,  which  severed  this  mighty  empire 
from    the   British   crown,   there  was  not  heard,  throughout 
our   continent  in  arms,  a  voice   which  spoke  louder  for  the 
rights  of  America,  than  that  of  Burke  or  of  Chatham,  within 
the  walls  of  the  British  parliament,  and   at  the  foot  of  the 
British  throne  ?     No,  for  myself,  I  can  truly  say,  that  after 
my  native  land,  I  feel  a  tenderness  and  a  reverence  for  that 
of  my  fathers.     The  pride  I  take  in  my  own  country  makes 
me  respect   that  from  which  we  are  sprung.     In  touching 
the  soil  of  England,  I  seem  to  return,  like  a  descendant,  to 
the  old  family  seat  ; — to  come  back  to  the  abode  of  an  aged 
and  venerable  parent.     I   acknowledge  this  great  consan- 
guinity of  nations.     The  sound  of  my  native  language  be- 
yond the  sea,  is  a  music  to  my  ear,  beyond  the  richest  strains 


AT    PLYMOUTH.  229 

Tuscan  softness,  or  Castiliun  majesty.  I  am  not  yet  in  a 
land  of  strangers,  while  surrounded  by  the  manners,  the 
habits,  the  forms,  in  which  I  have  been  brought  up.  I  wan- 
der delighted  through  a  thousand  scenes,  which  the  histori- 
ans, the  poets,  have  made  familiar  to  us, — of  which  the 
names  are  interwoven  with  our  earliest  associations.  I 
tread  with  reverence,  the  spots,  where  I  can  retrace  the 
footsteps  of  our  suffering  fathers  ;  the  pleasant  land  of  their 
birth  has  a  claim  on  my  heart.  It  seems  to  me  a  classic, 
yea,  a  holy  land,  rich  in  the  memory  of  the  great  and  good ; 
the  martyrs  of  liberty,  the  exiled  heralds  of  truth  ;  and 
richer,  as  the  parent  of  this  land  of  promise  in  the  west. 

I  am  not, — I  need  not  say  I  am  not, — the  panegyrist  of 
England.  I  am  not  dazzled  by  her  riches,  nor  awed  by  her 
power.  The  sceptre,  the  mitre,  and  the  coronet, — stars^ 
garters,  and  blue  ribbons, — seem  to  me  poor  things  for  great 
men  to  contend  for.  Nor  is  my  admiration  awakened  by 
her  armies  mustered  for  the  battles  of  Europe  ;  her  navies 
overshadowing  the  ocean ;  nor  her  empire  grasping  the 
farthest  East.  It  is  these,  and  the  price  of  guilt  and  blood 
by  which  they  are  maintained,  which  are  the  cause  why  no 
friend  of  Uberty  can  salute  her  with  undivided  affections. 
But  it  is  the  refuge  of  free  principles,  though  often  persecu- 
ted ;  the  school  of  religious  liberty,  the  more  precious  for 
the  struggles  to  which  it  has  been  called  ;  the  tombs  of  those 
who  have  reflected  honor  on  all  who  speak  the  English 
tongue  ;  it  is  the  birth-place  of  our  fathers,  the  home  of  the 
Pilgrims  ;  it  is  these  which  I  love  and  venerate  in  England. 
I  should  feel  ashamed  of  an  enthusiasm  for  Italy  and  Greece, 
did  I  not  also  feel  it  for  a  land  like  this.  In  an  American  it 
would  seem  to  me  degenerate  and  ungrateful,  to  hang  with 
passion  upon  the  traces  of  Homer  and  Virgil,  and  follow 
without  emotion  the  nearer  and  plainer  footsteps  of  Shaks- 
peare  and  Milton ;  and  I  should  think  him  cold  in  his  Iovq 
for  his  native  land,  who  felt  no  melting  in  his  heart  for  that 
other  native  land,  which  holds  the  ashes  of  his  forefathers. 

20 


230  evehett's  oration, 

But  it  was  not  enough  that  our  fathers  were  of  Eng- 
land :  the  masters  of  Ireland,  and  the  lords  of  Hindostan 
are  of  England  too.  But  our  fathei's  were  Englishmen, 
aggrieved,  persecuted  and  banished.  It  is  a  principle,  amply 
borne  out  by  the  history  of  the  great  and  powerful  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  by  that  of  none  more  than  the  country  of 
which  we  speak,  that  the  best  fruits  and  choicest  action  of 
the  commendable  qualities  of  the  national  character,  are 
to  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  oppressed  few,  and  not  of  the 
triumphant  many.  As  in  private  character,  adversity  is 
often  requisite  to  give  a  proper  direction  and  temper  to 
strong  qualities,  so  the  noblest  traits  of  national  character, 
even  under  the  freest  and  most  independent  of  hereditary 
governments,  are  commonly  to  be  sought  in  the  ranks  of  a 
protesting  minority,  or  of  a  dissenting  sect.  Never  was 
this  truth  more  clearly  illustrated  than  in  the  settlement  of 
New-England. 

Could  a  common  calculation  of  policy  have  dictated  the 
terms  of  that  settlement,  no  doubt  our  foundations  would 
have  been  laid  beneath  the  royal  smile.  Convoys  and  na- 
vies would  have  been  solicited  to  waft  our  fathers  to  the 
coast ;  armies,  to  defend  the  infant  communities  ;  and  the 
flattering  patronage  of  princes  and  lords,  to  espouse  their 
interests  in  the  councils  of  the  mother  country.  Happy, 
that  our  fathers  enjoyed  no  such  patronage  ;  happy,  that 
they  fell  into  no  such  protecting  hands;  happy,  that  our 
foundations  were  silently  and  deeply  cast  in  quiet  insignifi- 
cance, beneath  a  charter  of  banishment,  persecution,  and 
contempt  ;  so  that  when  the  royal  arm  was  at  length  out- 
stretched against  us,  instead  of  a  submissive  child,  tied  down 
by  former  graces,  it  found  a  youthful  giant  in  the  land,  born 
amidst  hardships,  and  nourished  on  the  rocks,  indebted  for 
no  favors,  and  owing  no  duty.  From  the  dark  portals  of 
the  star  chamber,  and  in  the  stern  text  of  the  acts  of  uni- 
formity, the  Pilgrims  received  a  commission,  more  efficient 
than  any  that  ever  bore  the  royal  seal.     Their  banishment 


AT    PLYMOUTH.  231 

to  Holland  was  fortunate  ;  the  decline  oftheir  little  company 
in  a  strange  land  was  fortunate  ;  the  difficulties  which  they 
experienced  in  getting  the  royal  consent  to  banish  them- 
selves  to  this  wilderness  were  fortunate ;  all  the  tears  and 
hoart  breakings  of  that  ever  memorable  parting  at  Delftha- 
ven,  had  the  happiest  influence  on  the  rising  destinies  of 
New  England.  All  this  purified  the  ranks  of  the  settlers. 
These  rough  touches  of  fortune  brushed  off  the  light,  uncer- 
tain, selfish  spirits.  They  made  it  a  grave,  solemn,  self- 
denying  expedition.  They  cast  a  broad  shadow  of  thought 
and  seriousness  over  the  cause,  and  if  this  sometimes 
deepened  into  melancholy  and  bitterness,  can  we  find  no 
apology  for  such  a  human  weakness  ? 

It  is  sad  indeed  to  reflect  on  tl>e  disasters,  which  this" lit- 
tle band  of  Pilgrims  encountered.  Sad  to  see  a  portion  of 
them  the  prey  of  unrelenting  cupidity,  treacherously  em- 
barked in  an  unseaworthy  ship,  which  they  are  soon  obliged 
to  abandon,  and  crowd  themselves  into  one  vessel ;  one 
hundred  persons,  besides  the  ship's  company,  in  a  vessel 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  tons.  One  is  touched  at  the  story 
of  the  long,  cold,  and  weary  autumnal  passage  ;  of  the 
landing  on  the  inhospitable  rocks  at  this  dismal  season ; 
where  they  are  deserted  before  long  by  the  ship,  which  had 
brought  them,  and  which  seemed  their  only  hold  upon  the 
world  of  fellow  men,  a  prey  to  the  elements  and  to  want, 
and  fearfully  ignorant  of  the  numbers,  the  power  and  the 
temper  of  the  savage  tribes,  that  filled  the  unexplored  conti- 
nent  upon  whose  verge  they  had  ventured.  But  all  this 
wrought  together  for  good.  These  trials  of  wandering  and 
exile,  of  the  ocean,  the  winter,  the  wilderness,  and  the 
savage  foe,  were  the  final  assurance  of  success.  It  was  these 
that  put  far  away  from  our  fathers'  cause  all  patrician  soft, 
ness,  all  hereditary  claims  to  preeminence.  No  eflfeminate 
nobility  crowded  into  the  dark  and  austere  ranks  of  the 
Pih^rims.  No  Carr  nor  Villicrs  desired  to  lead  on  the  ill- 
provided  band  of  despised  Puritans.  No  well  endowed  clergy 


232  ' 


EVERKTT  S     OKATION, 


were  on  the  alert,  to  quit  their  cathedrals,  and  set  up  a  pomp- 
ous hierarchy  in  the  frozen  wilderness.  No  craving  gov- 
ernors were  anxious  to  be  sent  over  to  our  cheerless  El 
Dorados  of  ice  and  of  snow.  No,  they  could  not  say  they  had 
encouraged,  patronized,  or  helped  the  Pilgrims.  They 
could  not  afterwards  fairly  pretend  to  reap  where  they  had 
not  strewn ;  and  as  our  fathers  reared  this  broad  and  solid 
fabric  with  pains  and  watchfulness,  unaided,  barely  tolerated, 
it  did  not  fall,  when  the  arm,  which  had  never  supported, 
was  raised  to  destroy. 

Methinks  I  see  it  now,  that  one  solitary,  adventurous  ves- 
sel, the  Mayflower  of  a  forlorn  hope,  freighted  with  the 
prospects  of  a  future  state,  and  bound  across  the  unknown 
sea.  I  behold  it  pursuing,  with  a  thousand  migivings,  the 
uncertain,  the  tedious  voyage.  Suns  rise  and  set,  and  weeks 
and  months  pass,  and  winter  surprises  them  on  the  deep,  but 
brings  them  not  the  sight  of  the  v.ished  for  shore.  I  see 
them  now  scantily  supplied  with  provisons,  crowded  almost 
to  suffocation  in  their  ill-stored  prison,  delayed  by  calms, 
pursuing  a  circuitous  route  ; — and  now  driven  in  fury  before 
the  raging  tempest,  on  the  high  and  giddy  waves.  The 
awful  voice  of  the  storm  howls  throuoh  the  ri"-ffin"-.  The 
laboring  masts  seem  straining  from  their  base  ; — the  dismal 
sound  of  the  pumps  is  heard  ; — the  ship  leaps,  as  it  were, 
madly,  from  billow  to  billow  ; — the  ocean  breaks,  and  settles 
with  engulphing  floods  over  the  floating  deck,  and  beats  with 
deadening  weight  against  the  staggered  vessel.  I  see  them, 
escaped  from  these  perils,  pursuing  their  all  but  desperate  un- 
dertaking, and  landed  at  last,  after  a  five  months'  passage,  on 
the  ice  clad  rocks  of  Plymouth, — weak  and  weary  from  the 
voyage, — poorly  armed,  scantily  provisioned,  depending  on 
the  charity  of  their  ship-master  for  a  draft  of  beer  on  board, 
drinking  nothing  but  water  on  shore, — without  shelter, — 
without  means, — surrounded  by  hostile  tribes.  Shut  now 
the  volume  of  history,  and  tell  me,  on  any  principle  of  hu- 
man probability,  what  shall  be  the  fate  of  this  handful  of  ad^ 


AT    PLYMOUTH.  233 

venturers.  Tell  me,  man  of  military  science,  in  how  many 
months  were  they  all  swept  off  by  the  thirty  savage  tribes? 
enumerated  within  the  early  limits  of  New  England  ?  Tell 
me,  poUtician,  how  long  did  this  shadow  of  a  colony,  on 
which  your  conventions  and  treaties  had  not  smiled,  languish 
on  the  distant  coast?  Student  of  history,  compare  for  me 
the  baffled  projects,  the  deserted  settlements,  the  abandoned 
adventures,  of  other  times,  and  find  the  parallel  of  this.  Was 
it  the  winter's  storm,  beating  upon  the  houseless  heads  of 
women  and  children  ;  was  it  hard  labor  and  spare  meals  ; — 
was  it  disease, — was  it  the  tomahawk, — w^as  it  the  deep 
malady  of  a  blighted  hope,  a  ruined  enterprise,  and  a  broken 
heart,  aching  in  its  last  moments,  at  the  recollection  of  the 
loved  and  left,  beyond  the  sea ;  was  it  some,  or  all  of  these 
united,  that  hurried  this  forsaken  company  to  their  melan- 
choly  fate  ? — And  is  it  possible,  that  neither  of  these  causes, 
that  not  all  combined,  were  able  to  blast  this  bud  of  hope  ?  Is 
it  possible,  that  from  a  beginning  so  feeble,  so  frail,  so  worthy, 
not  so  much  of  admiration  as  of  pity,  there  has  gone  forth  a 
progress  so  steady,  a  growth  so  wonderful,  a  reality  so  im- 
portant, a  promise  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  so  glorious  ? 


30* 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  INDIAN  BILL. 
BY  ISAAC  C.  BATES, 


Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  not  an  act  of  Georgia  since  Ogle- 
thorp  first  planted  his  footsteps  upon  the  site  of  Savannah 
when  duly  considered  ;  there  is  not  a  resolve,  ordinance  or 
law  of  Congress  ;  there  is  not  a  treaty  of  the  United  States 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  that  does  not  tend  to  establish  tho 
fact,  tliat  the  Indians  are  the  proprietors  of  the  lands  and 
hunting  grounds  they  claim,  subject  only  to  the  restriction 
upon  their  right  of  alienation.  You  might  have  put  the  ques- 
tion to  every  man  in  this  nation,  or  child  on  the  frontier,  and 
he  would  have  told  you  so,  until  the  legislation  of  the  States, 
aided  by  interest,  instructed  him  otherwise.  What  then 
becomes  of  the  tenancy  at  will — -at  sufferance,  as  asserted 
by  Georgia  ?  Not  one  act,  law  or  treaty  that  does  not  es- 
tablish the  fact  that  they  are  sovereign.  Sir,  when  were 
they  otherwise  ?  In  what  field  were  they  conquered  ?  Pro- 
duce  the  proof.  But  be  it  what  it  may,  it  is  all  controlled  by 
a  single,  undisputed,  admitted  fact — here  is  the  nation,  until 
this  invasion  of  it,  still  sovereign.  There  is  no  tradition 
that  has  not  been  lost  in  its  descent,  that  it  was  ever  other- 
wise than  sovereign.  The  pyramids  of  Egypt,  upon  their 
own  broad  and  solid  foundations,  are  not  better  proof  of 
themselves  than  the  Cherokee  nation  is  of  its  sovereignty. 
Sir,  the  emblems  of  it  were  sparkling  in  the  sun,  when  those 
who  now  inhabit  Georgia,  and  all  who  ever  did,  were  in  the 
loins  of  their  European  ancestry  ;  and  the  bird  that  bore  them 


BATES*    Sl'EECU.  235 

aloft  in  the  upper  skies — tlic  region  that  clouds  never  darkened 
— was  not  more  the  king  of  birds,  than  the  Cherokccs  were 
the  lords  of  the  country  in  which  they  dwelt,  acknowledging 
no  supremacy  but  that  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  awed  by  no 
power  but  his — absolute,  erect  and  indomitable  as  any  crea- 
tures upon  earth  the  Deity  ever  formed. 

But  it  is  said  the  Constitution  forbids  the  '  erection  of  a 
new  State  within  the  jurisdiction  of  another  State,'  and 
therefore  the  Cherokee  government  cannot  be  tolerated. 
Before  I  examined  this  subject,  my  own  mind  was  embarrass, 
ed  by  this  consideration.  But  upon  examination  it  will  be 
found  that  this  article  was  drawn  with  great  caution  and 
forecast,  and  for  the  very  purpose  of  saving  these  little  sove- 
reignties of  the  aboriginal  inliabitants.  In  the  first  place, 
as  has  been  clearly  shown  in  this  debate,  they  are  not  a 
"  state"  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution.  In  the 
next  place,  they  are  not  a  "neio  state."  They  were  sove- 
reignties when  the  Constitution  was  adopted.  Therefore 
the  existence  and  toleration  of  them  then  was  as  much  a  vi- 
olation of  the  Constitution  as  it  is  now.  According  to  the 
Georgia  doctrine,  the  government  of  the  United  States  was 
then  bound  to  do  what  it  is  now  doing  ;  that  is,  to  put  an 
end  to  the  Cherokee  nation.  In  the  third  place,  if  a  "  new 
state,"  it  is  not  a  state  formed  "  within  the  jurisdiction"  of 
Georgia.  The  Constitution  docs  not  say,  in  the  often  re- 
peated phrase,  within  the  "  chartered  limits,"  or  "  geograph- 
ical  limits,"  or  "limits"  of  Georgia — terms  used  as  if  they 
were  of  the  same  meaning  as  "jurisdictional  limits," — the 
same  lines,  all  coincident.  No  such  thing.  The  Indian 
boundary  is  the  limit  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Georgia.  The 
other  lines  indicate  the  extent  of  country  to  which  she 
claims  the  right  of  pre-emption,  and  by  every  new  purchase, 
of  adding  to  her  territory,  and  thus  extending  the  limits  of 
her  jurisdiction. 

These  equivocal  terms  were  rejected,  and  the  word  "ju- 
risdiction" was  substituted  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitu- 


236  bates'  speech  on 

tion  for  the  word  "  limits" — the  one  extending  to  the  Indian 
boundary  only,  and  so  considered  by  Georgia  herself  down 
to  the  time  of  this  dispute,  the  other  being  the  geographical 
boundary  of  the  State.  Now  I  take  it  upon  myself  to  say, 
that  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  there  was  no  pre- 
tence for  affirming  that  the  Cherokees  were  within  the  jwri*. 
diction  of  Georgia. 

What  the  views  of  the  framers  of  that  instrument  were  in 
relation  to  these  remnants  of  once  mighty  nations,  I  cannot 
say.  Probably  they  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  they 
would  melt  away  or  mingle  with  the  current  of  white  popu- 
lation, or  pass  off  in  some  other  form.  Certain,  I  am,  it  was 
not  their  intention  that  "in  their  property,  rights  or  liberty 
they  should  ever  be  invaded  or  molested."  This  our  ances- 
tors said  in  1787  ;  and  Georgia  said  the  same  in  1802.  The 
Cherokee  nation  is  not,  therefore,  a  new  State,  formed  with- 
in the  '^jurisdiction"  of  Georgia.  I  do  not  remark  upon  the 
improvement  made  in  their  form  of  government,  for  any  man 
of  sense  must  see  that  that  can  make  no  dilTerence.  The 
more  perfect  the  system  the  better.  Less  the  trouble  from 
it. 

It  has  been  said  also  that  the  United  States  have  not  ex- 
tinguished the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  in  question  as  agreed 
at  the  cession.  I  have  already  remarked  upon  the  condi- 
tions of  the  obligation  then  entered  into ;  and  it  is  a  fuU. 
answer  to  this  complaint  to  say,  that  the  United  States  have 
extinguished  the  title  until  the  Indians  have  refused  to  cede 
another  acre,  and  that  they  have  been  always  ready  and 
willing,  and  are  now  ready  to  do  it,  if  the  Indians  will  con- 
sent to  it. 

Then  again  it  is  said  that  the  indisposition  to  sell  is  the 
result  of  the  civilization  of  the  Cherokees,  and  that  that  has 
been  brought  about  by  the  agency  of  the  government.  The 
answer  to  this  is,  that  the  United  States  were  under  obliga- 
tion to  do  what  they  have  done,  prior  to  the  compact  of 


TIIB    IXDIAN    BILL. 


237 


1802  ;  and  this  was  known  to  Georgia,  and  she  took  tlie 
stipulation,  suhjcct  to  this  ohhgation,  which  is  distinctly  re- 
cognized in  her  own  compact. 

Again,  it  has  been  urged  against  soma  of  the  treaties 
guarantying  this  country  to  the  Chcrokees  that  the  "just 
claims  of  the  State  of  Georgia  were"  prejudiced  thereby, 
contrary  to  the  constitution.  This  is  bogging  the  question  ; 
for  Georgia  has  no  "just  claim"  to  the  Cherokee  country, 
and  therefore  none  is  prejudiced.  Georgia  has  no  right, 
constitutional  or  any  other,  that  is  incompatible  with  the 
engagements  you  have  made  to  the  Indian  nations,  or  thiit 
is  invaded  by  any  law  you  have  passed  "  to  prevent  wrongs 
being  done  to  them,  and  to  preserve  peace  and  friendship 
with  thein." 

But,  sir,  you  cannot  take  a  step  in  the  argument  towards 
the  result  contended  for  by  the  friends  of  this  bill,  without 
blottinfr  out  a  treaty,  or  tearing  a  seal  from  vour  bond.  I 
give  to  the  bill  the  connection  which  it  has  in  fact,  whatever 
may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  with  the  lavvs  of  the  States  to 
v.hich  it  is  subsidiary,  and  with  the  decision  of  the  President, 
that  the  Indians  must  submit  or  remove.  Now,  sir,  I  say 
you  are  bound  to  protect  them  where  they  are,  if  they  claim 
it  at  your  hands.  That  you  violate  no  right  of  the  States 
in  doing  it,  and  will  violate  the  rights  of  the  Indian  nations 
by  not  doing  it.  That  when  the  United  States,  in  consid- 
eration of  the  cession  of  land  made  by  the  Chcrokees  to  this 
sovcrnment,  guaranteed  to  them  the  ^^  remainder  of  their 
country  forever,"  you  meant  something  by  it.  Sir,  it  is 
in  vain  to  talk  upon  this  question  ;  impossible,  patiently  to 
discuss  it.  If  you  have  honor,  it  is  pledged;  if  you  have 
truth,  it  is  pledged  ;  if  you  have  faith,  it  is  pledged — a  na- 
tion's faith,  and  truth,  and  honor!  And  to  whom  pledged  ? 
To  the  weak,  the  defenceless,  the  dependent.  Fidem  An. 
glorum  in  foedere  elegiimis,  they  say  to  you.  Selecting 
your  faith  and  no  other, — you  would  not  have  it  othcr- 
v^'ise, — wo  repose!  our    trust  and  confidence  in  you,  and 


238  bates'  speech  ox 

you  alone.  And  for  what  pledged  ?  Wherever  you  open  your 
eyes  you  see  it,  and  wherever  you  plant  your  foot  you  feel  it. 
And  by  whom  pledged  ?  By  a  nation  in  its  youth — a  Republic, 
boastful  of  its  libsrty  ;  may  it  never  be  added,  unmindful  of 
its  honor.  Sir,  your  decision  upon  this  subject  is  not  to  be 
rolled  up  in  the  scroll  of  your  journal  and  forgotten.  The 
transaction  of  this  day,  with  the  events  it  will  give  rise  to, 
will  stand  out  upon  the  canvass  in  all  future  delineations  of  this 
quarter  of  the  globe,  putting  your  deeds  of  glory  in  the  shade. 
You  will  see  it  every  whei'e — You  will  meet  it  on  the  page  of 
history,  in  the  essay  of  the  moralist,  in  the  tract  of  the  jurist. 
You  will  see  it  in  the  vision  of  the  poet ;  you  will  feel  it 
in  the  sting  of  the  satirist  ;  you  will  encounter  it  in  the  in- 
dignant  frown  of  the  friend  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man, 
wherever  despotism  has  not  subdued  to  its  dominion,  the  very 
look.  You  will  meet  it  upon  the  stage  ;  you  will  read  it  in 
the  novel,  and  the  eyes  of  your  children's  children  through- 
out all  generations,  will  gush  with  tears  as  they  run  over  the 
story,  unless  the  oblivion  of  another  age  of  darkness  should 
come  over  the  world,  and  blot  out  the  record  and  the  memory 
of  it.  And,  Sir,  you  will  meet  it  at  the  bar  above.  The 
Cherokees,  if  they  are  men,  cannot  submit  to  such  laws 
and  such  degradation.  They  must  go.  Urged  by  such  per- 
suasion, they  must  consent  to  go.  If  you  will  not  interfere 
in  their  behalf,  the  result  is  inevitable — the  object  will  be 
accomplished.  When  the  Cherokee  takes  his  last  look  of 
the  cabin  he  has  reared — of  the  field  he  has  cultivated — of 
the  mound  that  covers  the  ashes  of  his  fathers  for  unknown 
generations,  and  the  bones  of  his  family  and  friends,  and 
leaves  all  to  be  desecrated  by  the  greedy  and  obtrusive  bor- 
derer— Sir,  I  will  not  venture  upon  a  description  of  this  scene 
of  a  nation's  exit  and  exile.  I  will  only  say — I  would  not  en- 
counter the  secret,  silent  prayer  that  should  be  breathed  from 
the  heart  of  one  of  these  sufferers,  armed  with  the  energy  that 
fciith  and  hope  would  give  it,  if  there  be  a  God  that  avenges 
the  wrongs  of  the  injured,  for  all  the  land  the  sun  has  looked 


THE    INDIAN    BILL.  239 

upon.  These  children  of  nature  will  go  to  the  stake,  and 
bid  you  strike  without  the  motion  of  a  muscle ;  but  if  they 
can  bear  this  ;  if  they  have  reduced  whatever  there  is  of 
earth  about  them,  to  such  a  subjection  to  the  spirit  within, 
as  to  bear  this,  we  are  the  men  to  go  into  the  wilderness,  and 
leave  them  here  as  our  betters. 

Mr.  Speaker,  there  are  many  collateral  arguments  bear- 
ing upon  the  main  point  of  this'discussion,  that  I  intended  to 
have  urged,  and  many  directly  in  my  way  that  I  have  pass- 
ed over,  and  most  of  them  I  have  but  touched.  But  full  of 
interest  as  this  question  is,  I  dare  not  venture  longer  upon 
the  patience  of  the  house.  At  this  age  of  the  world,  and  in 
view  of  what  they  have  been,  and  what  we  were,  and  of  what 
they  have  become,  and  we  are,  any  thing  but  a  breach  of  faith 
— the  deep  and  lasting  infamy,  to  say  nothing  of  the  appalling 
guilt  of  it — with  the  Indian  Tribes.  If  the  great  men  who  have 
gone  before  us  were  so  improvident  as  to  involve  the  United 
States  in  contradictory  and  incompatible  obligations,  a 
breach  of  faith  with  all  the  world  besides,  rather  than  with 
these  our  confiding  neighbors.  If  we  must  be  made  to  blush, 
let  it  be  before  our  equals.  Let  there  be  at  least  dignity  in 
our  humiliation,  and  therefore  something  of  generosity,  or 
courageous  daring — something  besides  unmixed  selfishness 
and  domineering  cowardice  in  the  act  that  produces  it. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A   DISCOURSE, 

STYLED  "INDIAN  RIGHTS  AND  OUR  DUTIES." 
BY  HEMAN  HUMPHREY,  D.  D. 

WiiAT  has  become  of  those  powerful  tribes  that  two  cen- 
turies  ago  dwelt  where  we  now  dwell ;  and  kindled  their 
watch-fires  where  our  proudest  cities  rise ;  and  owned  all 
these  rivers,  and  bays,  and  harbors,  and  great  lakes,  and 
lofty  mountains,  and  fertile  vallies  ?  Where  are  they  ?  A 
nobler  race  of  wild  men  never  existed  in  any  age  or  country. 
We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  them  as  ferocious  savages. 
And  it  is  true  that  they  were  uncivilized.  They  had  no 
schools,  nor  Colleges.  They  had  never  enjoyed  the  blessed 
light  of  Christianity  ;  and  in  their  wars  with  one  another, 
they  were  as  cruel,  as  they  were  brave  and  crafty.  It  is 
true,  also,  that  when  we  began  to  extend  our  settlements  far 
into  the  country,  and  they  saw  us  in  possession  of  their 
finest  hunting  grounds  and  fisheries,  they  became  jealous  of 
us  and  being  instigated  by  the  French,  who  then  flanked  our 
whole  northern  and  western  frontier,  from  the  gulph  of  St. 
Lawrence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  they  made  depreda- 
tions upon  our  property  and  cruelly  butchered  some  of  our 
people. 

All  this  is  true.  But  savages  as  they  were,  they  bore  with 
.our  gi'adual  encroachments  much  longer  than  we  should 
have  borne  with  th  irs  under  siinilar  circumstances,  and 
taught  us  lessons  which  may  well  put  to  the  blush  all  our 
boasted  religion  and  civilization. 

>  The  Indians,'  says  Dr.  Trumbull, '  at  the  first  settlement 


HXMPIIREY^S    DISCOURSE.  241 

©f  our  fathers,  performed  many  acts  of  kindness  towards 
them.  They  instructed  thorn  in  the  manner  of  planting  and 
dressing  the  Indian  corn.  They  carried  them  safe  through 
rivers  and  waters.  They  gave  them  much  useful  informa- 
tion respecting  the  country,  and  when  the  EngUshand  tiieir 
children  were  lost  in  the  woods,  and  they  were  in  danger  of 
perishing  with  hunger,  or  cold,  they  conducted  them  to  their 
wigwams,  fed  them,  and  restored  them  to  their  families  and 
parents.  By  selling  them  corn  when  pinched  with  famine, 
they  relieved  their  distresses,  and  prevented  their  perishing 
in  a  strange  land  and  uncultivated  wilderness.'  The  same 
historian  tells  us,  that  it  was  nearly  sixteen  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Plymouth,  before  the  Indians  commenced  hos. 
tilities  upon  their  English  neighbors;  and  again  'that-the 
English  lived  in  tolerable  peace  with  all  the  Indians  in  New 
England,  except  the  Pequots,  for  about  forty  years.' 

Thus,  when  we  were  few  and  they  were  many, — we 
were  weak  and  they  were  strong — instead  of  driving  us 
back  into  the  sea,  as  they  might  have  done  at  any  time,  they 
cherished  our  perilous  infancy,  and  tendered  to  us  the  sacred 
emblems  ot"  peace.  They  gave  us  land  as  much  as  we  want- 
ed, or  sold  it  to  us  for  nothing.  They  permitted  us  quietly 
to  clear  up  the  wilderness,  and  to  build  habitations, 
and  school  houses,  and  churches.  And  when  everything 
began  to  smile  around  us,  under  the  combined  influ- 
ence of  industry,  education,  and  religion,  these  savages 
did  not  come  to  us  and  say,  '  We  want  your  houses — we 
want  your  fine  cultivated  farms :  you  must  move  off. 
There  is  room  enough  for  you  beyond  the  western  rivers, 
where  you  may  settle  down  on  a  better  soil,  and  begin  anew.' 

Nor  when  we   were  strongly  attached  to  our  fire  sides, 

and  to  our  father's  sepulchres,  did  tliey  say,  '  You  are  mere 

tenants  at  will :  we  own  all  the  land,  and  if  you  insist  upon 

staying  longer,  you  must  dissolve  your  government  and  sub- 

Bftit  to  such  laws  as  we  choose  to  make  for  you.' 

No — the  Indian  tribes  of  the  seventeenth  century,  knew 
21 


242  HUMPHSEy's    DISCOtHSIi, 

nothing  of  these  modern  refinements :  they  were  no  such 
adepts  in  the  law  of  nature  and   nations.      They  allowed 
us  to  abide  by  our  own  council  fires,  and  to  govern  ourselves 
as  we  chose,  when  they  could  either  have  dispossessed,  or 
subjugated  us  at  pleasure.     We  did  remain,  and  we  gradu- 
ally waxed  rich  and  strong.     We  wanted  more  land,  and  they 
sold  it  to  us  at  our  own  price.     Still  we  were^not  satisfied. 
There  was  room  enough  to  the  west,  and  we  advised  them 
to  move  farther  back.     If  they  took  our  advise,  well.     If 
not,  we  knew  how  to  enforce  it.     And  where  are  those  once 
terrible  nations  now  ?     Driven  alternately  by  purchase  and 
by  conquest,  from  river    to  river,  and    from    mountain  to 
mountain,  they  have  disappeared  with  their  own    gigantic 
forests,  and  we,  their  enlightened  heirs  at  law  and  the  sword, 
now  plow  up  their  bones  with  as  much  indifference  as  we  do 
their  arrows.     Shall  I  name  the  Mohegans,  the  Pequots,  the 
Iroquois,  and  the  Mohawks  ?     What  has  become  of  them, 
and  of  a  hundred  other  independent  nations  which  dwelt  on 
this  side  of  the   Mississippi,  when   we  landed  at  Plymouth 
and  at  Jamestown  ?     Here  and  there,  as  at  Penobscot,  and 
Marshpee,  and  Oneida,  you  may  see  a  diminutive  and  down- 
cast  remnant,   wandering   liko   troubled  ghosts  among   the 
graves  of  their  mighty    progenitors.      Our    trinkets,   our 
threats,  our  arms,  our  whiskey,  our  bribes,   and  our  vices, 
have  all  but  annihilated  those  vast  physical  and  intellectual 
energies  of  a  native  population,  which  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred  and  fifty  years,  could  make  us  quake  and  flee  at  plea- 
Bure,  throughout  all   our  northern,  western,  and  southern 
borders. 

There  is  something  more  than  metaphor,  more  than  the 
wild  flowers  of  Indian  rhetoric,  in  the  speech  of  a  distinguish, 
ed  chief  to  General  Knox,  about  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
«  Brother,  I  have  been  looking  at  your  beautiful  city — the 
great  waters — your  fine  country,  and  I  see  how  you  all  are. 
But  then  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  this  fine  country, 
and  this  great  water  were  once  ours.     Our  ancestors  lived 


ON    INDIAN    BIGHTS.  249 

here  ;  they  enjoyed  it  as  their  own  place ; — it  was  the  gift 
of  the  Great  Spirit  to  them  and  their  children.  At  last  the 
white  people  came  here  in  a  great  canoe.  They  asked  us 
only  to  let  them  tie  it  to  a  teee,  lest  the  waters  should  carry 
it  away ;  we  consented.  They  said  some  of  their  people 
were  sick,  and  asked  leave  to  land  them  and  put  them  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees.  The  ice  then  came  and  they  could 
not  go  away.  They  begged  for  a  piece  of  land  to  build  wig- 
wams  for  the  winter :  we  granted  it  to  them.  Then  they 
asked  for  some  corn  to  keep  them  from  starving :  and  we 
kindly  furnished  it  to  them. 

'  Afterwards  more  came.  They  brought  spirituous  and 
intoxicating  liquors  with  them,  of  which  the  Indians  were 
very  fond.  They  persuaded  us  to  sell  them  some  land. 
Finally  they  drove  us  back  from  time  to  time,  into  the  wil- 
derness, far  from  the  water  and  the  fishes.  They  have  de- 
stroyed the  game  ;  and  our  people  have  wasted  away  ;  and 
now  we  live  miserable  and  wretched,  while  you  are  enjoying 
our  fine  and  beautiful  country.  This  makes  me  sorry, 
brother,  and  I  cannot  help  it.' 

Here  is  truth  and  nature ;  nor  is  there  less  of  either  in 
the  speech  of  the  famous  Logan  to  Lord  Dunmore,  Governor 
of  Virginia. 

• '  My  cabin,  since  I  had  one  of  my  own,  has  ever  been 
open  to  any  white  man  who  wanted  shelter.  My  spoils  of 
hunting,  since  first  I  began  to  range  these  woods,  have  I 
ever  imparted  to  appease  his  hunger,  to  clothe  his  naked- 
ness. But  what  have  I  seen  ?  What !  But  that  at  my 
return  at  night,  laden  with  spoil,  my  numerous  family  lie 
bleeding  on  the  ground  by  the  hand  of  those  who  had  found 
my  little  hut  a  certain  refuge  from  the  storm,  who  had  eaten 
my  food,  who  had  covered  themselves  with  my  skins.  What 
have  I  seen  ?  What !  But  that  those  dear  little  mouths  for 
which  I  had  all  day  toiled,  when  I  returned  to  fill  them,  had 
not  one  word  to  thank  me  for  all  that  toil. 
'  What  could  I  resolve  upon  !    My  blood  boiled  within  me. 


244  HUMPHREY  S    DISCOUHSEy 

My  heart  leaped  to  my  mouth !  Nevertheless  I  bid  my 
tomahawk  be  quiet  and  lie  at  rest  for  that  war,  because  1 
thought  the  great  men  of  your  country  sent  them  not  to  do 
it.  Not  long  after,  some  of  your  men  invited  our  tribe  to 
cross  the  river  and  bring  their  venison  with  them.  They 
came  as  they  had  been  invited.  The  white  men  made  them 
drunk,  murdered  them,  and  turned  their  knives  even  against 
the  women.  Was  not  my  own  sister  among  them  ?  Was 
she  not  scalped  by  the  hands  of  the  very  man  whom  she 
had  taught  to  escape  his  enemies,  when  they  were  scenting 
out  his  track?  What  could  I  resolve  upon?  My  blood 
boiled  thrice  hotter  than  before.  Thrice  again  my  heart 
leaped  to  my  mouth.  I  bade  no  longer  my  tomahawk  be 
qui-et  and  rest  for  that  war. 

*I  sprang  from  my  cabin  to  avenge  their  blood,  and  fully 
have  I  done  it  in  this  war,  by  shedding  yours,  from  your 
coldest  to  your  hottest  sun.  I  am  now  for  peace — to  peace 
have  I  advised  most  of  my  countrymen.  Nay,  what  is 
more,  I  have  offered,  I  will  offer  myself  a  victim,  being  ready 
to  die  if  their  good  requires  it.  Think  not  that  I  fear  death. 
I  have  no  relatives  left  to  mourn  for  me.  Logan's  Wood 
runs  in  no  veins  but  these.  I  would  not  turn  on  my  heel  to 
save  my  life;  and  why  should  I?  For  I  have  neither  wife 
nor  child  nor  sister  to  howl  for  me  when  I  am  gone  !' 

Gone  is  the  mighty  warrior,  the  terrible  avenger,  the 
heart-bursting  orator.  Gone  is  the  terror  and  glory  of  his 
nation  ;  and  gone  forever  from  our  elder  states,  are  the  red 
men,  who,  like  Saul  and  Jonathan,  were  '  swifter  than  eagles> 
and  stronger  than  lions,'  and  who  with  the  light  and  advan- 
tages which  we  enjoy,  might  have  rivalled  us  in  wealth  and 
power — in  the  senate  and  forum, — as  I  am  sure  that  they 
would  have  surpassed  us  in  magnanimity  and  justice. 

But  while  the  besom  of  destruction  has  thus  swept  away 
more  than  nine  tenths  of  the  aboriginal  sovereignties  of  the 
country,  a  few  of  the  more  southern  tribss  have  hitherto 
escaped,  though  greatly  reduced  both  in  numbers  and  tt;rri  - 


ON    INDIAN   RIGHTS.  245 

tory.  And  where  is  the  philanthropist  who  has  not  rejoiced 
to  see  these  tribas  emerging  so  rapidly  irom  pagan  darkness 
and  coming  into  the  light  of  well  regulated,  civil  and  Chris- 
tian  communities?  How  delightful  has  it  been  to  dwell  on 
the  hope  that  the  Cherokees,  the  Choctaws,  and  their  abori- 
ginal neighbors,  on  this  side  the  great  river  of  the  west, 
would  be  permitted  to  make  their  new  and  glorious  experi- 
ment upon  the  soil  which  God  gave  to  their  fathers.  How 
lately  did  the  visions  of  their  future  intellectual  and  moral 
greatness  shed  the  glories  of  a  new  creation  upon  all  their 
mountains  and  plains !  ' 

But  what  cloud  is  that  which  now  darkens  their  heavens  ? 
What  voices  of  supplication  and  woe  are  heard  from  all 
their  dwellings?  Tha  crisis  of  their  fate  has  suddenly  come. 
The  decree  has  gone  forth.  The  most  unjust  and  oppressive 
measures  are  in  train,  either  to  drive  70,000  unoffending 
people  from  the  soil  on  which  they  were  born,  into  distant 
wilds  where  most  of  them  will  perish,  or  to  dissolve  their  in- 
dependent governments,  rob  them  of  their  lands,  and  bring 
them  under  strange  laws,  the  very  design  of  which  is  to 
break  down   their  national  spirit,  and  ensure  their  speedy 

extermination. 

****** 

We  have  come  to  such  a  crisis,  as  neither  we  nor  our  ftt- 
thers  ever  saw  before.  The  great  question  is  to  be  finally 
settled  within  a  few  months,  perhaps  weeks,  whether  whole, 
peaceable  nations  shall  b2  dispossessed,  or  virtually  enslaved, 
under  the  eye  and  with  the  approbation  of  a  government, 
which  is  solemnly  pledged  to  protect  them.  And  do  we 
want  motives  to  remonstrate  against  this  crying  injustice  1 
Really  the  motives  are  so  many  and  so  urgent, — they  throng 
so  importunately  about  my  path,  that  I  know  not  what  to 
do  with  them.  Thrusting  the  greater  part  of  them  aside, 
I  can  only  bostow  a  moment  upon  some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent. 

And  the  Jirst  motive  is  drawn  from  the  immutable  and 
21  * 


246  Humphrey's  discoxtrse, 

eternal  principles  of  humanity  and  justice.  Humanity 
pleads  for  the  Indians  with  all  her  inexhaustible  sympathies 
and  with  all  her  eloquent  tongues.  They  are  distressed. 
They  are  vexed.  They  are  persecuted.  The  bosoms  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  unoffending  people  are  heaving  with  a 
mighty  and  common  agony — occasioned  by  the  encroach- 
ments and  menaces  of  those  who  ought  to  be  their  protec- 
tors. And  where,  if  we  do  not  speak  and  act,  is  our 
humanity. 

Justice  too,  with  all  its  irrefragable  arguments,  urges  us 
to  remonstrate  and  to  act.  The  most  sacred  rights  of  four 
nations,  living  under  our  protection  and  confiding  in  our 
republican  faith,  are  invaded.  And  they  cry  to  us  for  help. 
The  heritage  which  God  gave  them  is  to  bs  wrested  from 
them ;  or,  if  permitted  to  retain  the  small  portion  of  it  which 
is  now  under  cultivation,  they  are  to  be  thrust  down  from 
their  moral  and  political  elevation,  into  the  depths  of  despon- 
dency and  ruin.  And  can  any  one  who  knows  all  this,  sit 
still  and  ba  quiet ! 

What  if  only  ten  poor  families  in  a  remote  corner  of 
Maine  or  Missouri  were  thi-eatcned  with  similar  outrage? 
Every  man  in  the  nation  would  rise  up  and  blow  the  trum- 
pet. What  if  some  lordly  oppressor,  having  already  ten 
times  as  much  land  as  he  could  cultivate,  should  go  to  these 
families  and  say,  '  You  must  move  off.  I  want  your  little 
farms,  and  will  not  take  a  denial.' — Ten  millions  of  voices 
would  answer  in  thunder,  '  You  shan't  have  them  !  No,  nev- 
er !  These  families  have  rights  as  well  as  you,  and  they 
shall  be  protected  at  all  hazards.'  And  where,  I  ask,  is  the 
difference  ?  In  the  case  supposed  there  are  ten  families, 
and  in  that  of  the  Indians  now  under  consideration,  there 
are  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  !  Where  is  the  difference?  Ah, 
the  ten  are  v-hite  men,  and  the  ten  thousand  are  red  men ! 
Where  is  the  difr(;rence  ?  The  former  are  protected  in  their 
rights  by  the  constitution,  and  the  latter  by  the  solemn  faith 
of  treaties  !     There  is  the  mighty  diflerence  ! ! 


ON    INDIAN    RIGHTS.  247 

A  second  motive,  then,  for  stirring  up  all  the  moral  power 
of  this  nation  at  this  time,  is  found  in  the  danger  which 
threatens  our  own  lib3rtics.  This  suggestion  I  am  aware, 
will  be  ridiculed  by  many,  and  regarded  by  most  as  the  off- 
spring of  a  terrified  imagination  Let  those  who  choose, 
cry,  '  Peace,  and  safety,'  and  fold  their  arms  and  wait  for 
the  march  of  events.  But  if  the  people  sit  still,  and  look 
calmly  on,  while  the  Indians  arc  abandoned  to  their  fate,  in 
violation  of  the  most  solemn  national  compacts,  what  securi- 
ty have  we  that  the  same  government  which  dclibcrate'ly 
breaks  its  treaties  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  will  not 
ten,  or  twenty  years  hence,  find  some  plausible  pretext  for 
turning  its  power  and  patronage  against  the  constitution 
itself?  And  if  it  should,  how  long,  think  you,  will  these- pa- 
per and  parchment  bulwarks  of  ours  stand  ?  How  long 
will  it  bo  a  blessing  to  be  born  and  live  in  America,  rather 
than  in  Turkey,  or  under  the  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  ? 

Do  you  tell  me  that  there  is  no  possible  danger — that  no 
man,  or  numb:;r  of  men,  will  ever  dare  to  assail  our  free 
and  glorious  institutions.  Let  the  history  of  past  republics, 
or  rather  let  their  tombstones  decide  this  point  between  us. 
— So  it  would  have  been  said,  when  Washington  and  Jefferson 
were  at  the  head  of  affairs,  that  nobody  would  ever  dare  to 
disinherit,  or  enslave  the  Indians,  protected  as  they  are  by 
almost  a  hundred  and  fifty  treaties.  And  yet  it  is  about  to 
bo  done.  And  how  much  better  is  our  parchment,  than  theirs  ? 
If  such  encroachments,  acquiesced  in,  do  not  prepare  the 
way  for  putting  shackles  upon  our  children,  tliey  must  be  pro- 
tected by  higher  munitions  than  constitutional  bulwarks. 
This  I  am  wiUing  to  leave  upon  record,  and  I'un  the  risk  of 
its  being  laughed  at,  fifty  years  hence. 

A  third  motive  for  earnest  remonstrance  at  the  present 
crisis,  is  found  in  the  grand  experiment  which  we  as  a  na- 
tion arc  now  nriking,  bjfore  the  whole  world,  of  the  superior 
excellence  and  stability  of  republican  institutions.  How 
many  thousand  times  has  the  parallel  boen  proudly  drawn 


248  Humphrey's  discourse, 

by  our  statesmen  and  orators,  between  this  country  and 
every  other  nation  under  heaven.  How  triumphantly  has 
it  been  proclaimed  in  the  ears  of  all  mankind,  that 
here,  at  least,  all  the  rights  of  the  weak  as  well  as  the 
strong  have  found  a  sure  protection..  But  let  the  stroke  v/hich 
is  now  impending,  fall  upon  the  heads  of  the  poor  defence- 
less Indians,  and  who  will  not  be  heartily  and  forever  asham- 
ed of  all  this  boasting?  Who  will  ever  dare  to  say  anoth- 
er word  about  the  partition  of  Poland  ?  Who  in  a  foreign 
land,  will  ever  hereafter  bo  willing  to  own  that  he  is  an 
American?  How  will  all  the  enlightened  friends  of  free  in- 
stitutions in  other  countries  mourn  over  this  indelible  stigma 
upon  our  national  character ;  and  how  will  the  enemies  of 
equal  rights  triumph  in  our  disgrace.  Verily,  '  we  are 
made  a  spectacle  to  the  world  and  to  angels  and  to  men.' 

The  last  motive  which  I  have  time  to  mention,  and  can 
but  just  allude  to,  is,  that  there  is  a  just  God  in  heaven,  and 
that  sooner  or  later  his  wrath  will  wax  hot  against  the  na- 
tion  that  tramples  upon  the  rights  of  its  defenceless  and  im- 
ploring  neighbors.  Tell  me  not  of  your  twelve  millions  of 
people — of  the  exploits  of  your  armies  and  navy — of  the  un- 
paralleled growth  and  inexhaustible  resources  of  the  coun- 
try.  What  will  al!  these  avail  when  God  shall  come  out  of 
his  place  to  'make  inquisition  for  blood?'  Prouder  and 
miffher  nations  than  this  have  fallen,  and  how  can  we  expect 
to  escape,  if  we  '  use  oppression  and  exercise  robbery,  and 
vex  the  poor  and  needy  ?' 

The  Cherokees  and  Choctaws  cannot,  indeed,  resist  our 
arms.  They  lie  at  the  mercy  of  their  white  neighbors. 
They  are  like  little  trembling  flocks  of  kids,  surrounded  by 
lions.  But  though  they  are  too  weak  to  meet  us  in  the 
field,  they  are  not  too  weak  to  Uft  up  their  cries  to  heaven 
ao-ainst  us.  Though  they  are  too  few  to  defend  their  coun- 
try  against  our  rapacity,  there  are  enough  of  them  to  '  ap- 
pear as  swift  witnesses  againt  us'  in  the  Court  above  ;  and 
they  will  assuredly  have  the  right  of  testifying  secured  to 


ON    INDIAN    RIOUTS.  249 

them  tlierc,  however  they  may  bo  restricted  and  oppressed 
in  courts  below.  Their  nunibsrs  are  more  than  suflicient  to 
bring  down  the  judgments  of  God  upon  their  cruel  oppres- 
sors. Who  then  w  ill  '  make  up  the  hedge  and  stand  in  the 
gap  before  Him  for  the  land,  that  He  should  not  destroy  it  V 
The  crisis  is  awful,  and  the  responsibilities  of  our  rulers  and 
of  the  whole  nation  are  tremendous  !  The  Lord  is  a  holy 
God,  and  he  is  jealous  ! 


EXTiiACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE  EXPEDIENCY  OF  PASSING  LAWS,  FOR  CARRYING 
INTO  EFFECT,  THE  TREATY  CONCLUDED  BETWEEN 
GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES,  IN  THE 
YEAR  1794. 

BY  FISHER  AMES. 

To  expatiate  on  the  value  of  public  faith  may  pass  with 
some  men  for  declamation — to  such  men  I  have  nothing  to 
say.  To  others  I  will  urge — can  any  circumstance  mark 
upon  a  people  more  turpitude  and  debasement  ?  Can  any 
thino-  tend  more  to  make  men  think  themselves  mean,  or 
degrade  to  a  lower  point  their  estimation  of  virtue,  and  their 
standard  of  action  ? 

It  would  not  merely  demoralize  mankind,  it  tends  to  break 
all  the  ligaments  of  society,  to  dissolve  that  mysterious 
charm  which  attracts  individuals  to  the  nation,  and  to  in- 
spire in  its  stead  a  repulsive  sense  of  shame  and  disgust. 

What  is  patriotism  ?  Is  it  a  narrow  affection  for  the  spot 
where  a  man  was  born  ?  Are  the  very  clods  where  we 
tread  entitled  to  this  ai'dent  preference  because  they  are 
greener  ?  No,  sir,  this  is  not  the  character  of  the  virtue, 
and  it  soars  higher  for  its  object.  It  is  an  extended  self-love, 
mingling  with  all  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  twisting  itself 
with  the  minutest  filaments  of  the  heart.  It  is  thus  we  obey 
the  laws  of  society,  bocause  they  are  the  laws  of  virtue.  In 
their  authority  we  see,  not  the  array  of  force  and  terror,  but 
the  venerable  image  of  our  country's  honor.  Every  good 
citizen  makes  that  honor  his  own,  and  cherishes  it  not  only 


AMEs'    SPEECH.  251 

as  precious,  but  as  sacred.  He  is  willing  to  risk  his  life  in 
its  defence,  and  is  conscious  that  he  gains  protection  while 
he  gives  it.  For  what  rights  of  a  citizen  will  be  deemed  in- 
violable when  a  state  renounces  the  principles  that  constitute 
their  security  ?  Or  if  his  life  shoultl  not  bo  invaded,  what  would 
its  enjoyments  be  in  a  country  odious  in  the  eyes  of  stran- 
gers and  dishonored  in  his  own  ?  Could  he  look  with  affec- 
tion and  veneration  to  such  a  country  as  his  parent?  The 
sense  of  having  one  would  die  within  him  ;  he  would  blush 
for  his  patriotism,  if  he  retained  any,  and  justly,  for  it  would 
be  a  vice.     He  would  be  a  banished  man  in  his  native  land. 

I  see  no  exception  to  the  respect,  that  is  paid  among  na- 
tions to  the  law  of  good  faith.  If  there  are  cases  in  this 
enlightened  period,  when  it  is  violated,  there  are  none  when 
it  is  decried.  It  is  the  philosophy  of  politics,  the  religion  of 
governments.  It  is  observed  by  barbarians — a  v/hiff  of  to- 
bacco smoke,  or  a  string  of  beads,  gives  not  merely  binding 
force,  but  sanctity  to  treaties.  Even  in  Algiers,  a  truce 
may  be  bought  for  money,  but  when  ratified,  even  Algiers  is 
too  wise,  or  too  just,  to  disown  and  annul  its  obligation. 
Thus  we  see,  neither  the  ignorance  of  savages,  nor  the  prin- 
ciples  of  an  association  for  piracy  and  rapine,  permit  a  na- 
tion to  despise  its  engagements.  If,  sir,  there  could  be  a 
resuri'ection  from  the  foot  of  the  gallows,  if  the  victims  of 
justice  could  live  again,  collect  together  and  form  a  society, 
they  would,  however  loath,  soon  find  themselves  obliged  to 
make  justice,  that  justice  under  which  they  fell,  the  funda- 
mental law  of  their  state.  They  would  perceive,  it  was  their 
interest  to  make  others  respect,  and  they  would  therefore 
soon  pay  some  respect  themselves  to  the  obligations  of  good 
faith. 

It  is  painful,  I  hope  it  is  superfluous,  to  make  even  the 
supposition,  that  America  should  furnish  the  occasion  of  this 
opprobrium.  No,  let  me  not  even  imagine  that  a  republican 
government,  sprung,  as  our  own  is,  from  a  people  enlight- 
ened and  uncorrupted,  a  government  whose  origin  is  right, 


'252  AMES     SPEECH. 

and  whose  daily  discipline  is  duty,  can,  upon  solemn  debate^ 
make  its  option  to  be  faithless — can  dare  to  act  what  des. 
pots  dare  not  avow,  what  our  own  example  evinces,  the 
stales  of  Barbary  are  unsuspected  of.  No,  let  me  rather 
make  the  supposition,  that  Great  Britain  refuses  to  execute 
the  treaty  after  we  have  done  every  thing  to  carry  it  into 
effect.  Is  there  any  language  of  I'eproach,  pungent  enough 
to  express  your  commentary  on  the  fact  ?  What  would  you 
say,  or  leather  what  would  you  not  say  ?  Would  you  not 
tell  them,  wherever  an  Englishman  might  travel,  shame  would 
stick  to  him — he  would  disown  his  country.  You  would  ex- 
claim,  England  proud  of  your  wealth,  and  arrogant  in  the 
possession  of  power — blush  for  these  distinctions,  which  be- 
come the  vehicles  of  your  dishonor.  Such  a  nation  might 
truly  say  to  corruption,  thou  art  my  father,  and  to  the 
worm,  thou  art  my  mother  and  my  sister.  We  should  say 
of  such  a  race  of  men,  their  name  is  a  heavier  burden  than 
their  debt. 


EXTRACT  FR03I   AN  ORATION, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  PHI  BETA    KAPPA    SOCIETY   OF 

CAMBRIDGE,  1824. 

BY  EDWARD  EVERETT. 


It  may  be  objected,  and  it  has  been,  that  fox-  want  of  a 
hereditary  government,  we  lose  that  powerful  spring  of  ac 
tion  which  resides  in  the  patronage  of  such  a  government, 
and  must  emanate  from  the  crown.  With  many  individ- 
uals, friendly  to  our  popular  institutions,  it  is  nevertheless 
an  opinion,  that  we  must  consent  to  lose  something  of  the 
genial  influence  of  princely  and  royal  patronage  on  letters 
and  arts,  and  find  our  consolation  in  the  political  benefits  of 
our  free  system.  It  may  be  doubted,  however,  whether  this 
view  be  not  entirely  false.  A  crown  is  in  itself  a  strip  of 
velvet  set  with  jewels ;  the  dignity  which  it  imparts  and 
the  honor  with  which  it  is  invested,  depend  on  the  numbers, 
resources,  and  the  intelligence  of  the  people  who  permit  it 
to  bo  worn.  The  crown  of  the  late  emperor  of  Hayti,  is 
said  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  world  ;  and 
Theodore  of  Corsica,  while  confined  for  debt  in  the  Fleet  in 
London,  sat  on  as  high  a  throne  as  the  king  of  England. 
Since  then  the  power  and  influence  of  the  crown  are  really 
in  the  people,  it  seems  preposterous  to  say,  that  what  in- 
creases the  importance  of  the  people  can  diminish  the  effect 
of  that,  which  proceeds  from  them,  depends  upon  them, 
and  reverts  to  them.  Sovereignty,  in  all  its  truth 
and  efficacy,  exists  here,  as  much  as  ever  it  did  at 
London,  at  Paris,  at  Rome,  or  at  Susa.  It  exists,  it  is  true, 
22 


254  Everett's  oration, 

in  an  equal  propoi'tionate  difFusion  ;  a  part  of  it  belongs  to 
the  humblest  citizen.  The  error  seems  to  be  in  confoundinsr 
the  idea  of  sovereignty,  with  the  quaUty  of  an  individual 
sovereign.  Wheresoever  Providence  gathers  into  a  nation 
the  tribes  of  men,  there  a  social  hfe,  with  its  energies  and 
functions,  is  conferred  ;  and  this  social  life  is  sovereignty. 
By  the  healthful  action  of  our  representative  system,  it  is 
made  to  pervade  the  empire  like  the  air ;  to  reach  the  far- 
thest, descend  to  the  lowest,  and  bind  the  distant  together  ; 
it  is  made  not  only  to  co-operate  with  the  successful  and  as- 
sist the  prosperous,  but  to  cheer  the  remote,  '  to  remember 
the  forgotten,  to  attend  to  the  neglected,  to  visit  the  forsa- 
ken.' Before  the  rising  of  our  republic  in  the  world,  the 
faculties  of  men  have  had  but  one  weary  pilgrimage  to  per- 
form— to  travel  up  to  court.  By  an  improvement  on  the 
Jewish  polity,  which  enjoined  on  the  nation  a  visit  thrice  a 
year  to  the  holy  city ;  the  great,  the  munificent,  the  enlight- 
ened states  of"  the  ancient  and  modern  world  have  required 
a  constant  residence  on  the  chosen  spot.  Provincial  has 
become  another  term  for  inferior  and  rude ;  and  unpolite, 
which  once  meant  only  rural,  has  got  to  signify,  in  all  our 
languages,  something  little  better  than  barbarous.  But  since , 
in  the  nature  of  things,  a  small  part  only  of  the  population  of 
a  large  state  can,  by  physical  possibility,  be  crowded  within 
the  walls  of  the  city,  and  there  receive  the  genial  beams  of 
metropolitan  favor,  it  follows  that  the  great  mass  of  men  are 
cut  off  from  the  operation  of  some  of  the  strongest  excite- 
ments to  exertion.  It  is  rightfully  urged  then,  as  a  great 
advantage  of  our  system,  that  the  excitements  of  society  go 
down  as  low  as  its  burdens,  and  search  out  and  bring  for- 
ward  whatsoever  of  ability  and  zeal  are  comprehended  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  land.  This  is  but  the  beginning  of  the 
benefit,  or  rather  it  is  not  yet  the  benefit.  It  is  the  effect 
of  this  diffiision  of  privileges  that  is  precious.  Capacity 
and  opportunity,  the  twin  sisters,  who  can  scarce  subsist 
but  with  each  other,  are  now  brought  together.     The  people 


AT    CAMBRIDGE.  255 

who  are  to  choose,  and  from  whose  number  are  to  be  cho- 
sen, by  their  neighbors,  the  highest  othces  of  state,  infalhbly 
feel  an  impulse  to  mental  activity  ;  they  read,  think,  and 
compare ;  they  found  village  schools,  they  collect  social  li- 
bi'aries,  they  prepare  their  children  for  the  higher  establish- 
ments of  education.  The  world,  I  think,  has  been  abused 
on  the  tendency  of  institutions  perfectly  popular.  From 
the  ill-organized  states  of  antiquity,  terrific  examples  of  li. 
cence  and  popidar  misrule  are  quoted,  to  prove  that  man  re- 
quires  to  be  jn'otected  from  himself,  without  asking  who  is 
to  protect  him  from  the  protector,  himself  also  a  man. 
While  from  the  very  first  settlement  of  America  to  the  pre- 
sent day,  the  most  prominent  trait  of  our  character  has  been 
to  cherish  and  diffuse  the  means  of  education.  The  villajje 
school-house,  and  the  village  church,  are  the  monuments, 
which  the  American  people  have  erected  to  their  freedom  ; 
to  read,  and  write,  and  think,  are  the  licentious  practices, 
which  have  characterized  our  democracy. 

But  it  will  be  urged,  perhaps,  that,  though  the  effect  of 
our  institutions  be  to  excite  the  intellect  of  the  nation,  they 
excite  it  too  much  in  a  political  direction  ;  that  the  division 
and  subdivision  of  the  country  into  states  and  districts,  and 
the  equal  diffusion  throughout  them  of  political  privileges  and 
powers,  whatever  favorable  effect  in  other  ways  they  may 
produce,  are  attended  by  this  evil, — that  they  kindle  a  poli- 
tical  ambition,  where  it  would  not  and  ought  not  to  be  felt  ; 
and  particularly  that  they  are  unfriendly  in  their  operation 
on  literature,  as  they  call  the  aspiring  youth,  from  the  patient 
and  laborious  vigils  of  the  student,  to  plunge  prematurely 
into  the  conflicts  of  the  forum.  It  may,  however,  be  doubt- 
ed, whether  there  be  any  foundation  whatever  for  a  charge 
like  this ;  and  whether  the  fact,  so  far  as  it  is  one,  that  the 
talent  and  ambition  of  the  country  incline,  at  present,  to  a 
political  course,  be  not  owing  to  causes  wholly  unconnected, 
with  the  free  character  of  our  institutions.  It  need  not  be 
said  that  the  administration  of  the  government  of  a  country, 


256  KVEBETt's    ORAXlONr 

whether  it  be  Uberal  or  despotic,  is  the  first  thing  to  be  pro- 
vided for.     Some  persons  must  be  employed  in  making  and 
administering  the  laws,  before  any  other  interest  can  receive 
attention.     Our  fathers,  the  pilgrims,  before  they  left  the  ves- 
sel, in  which  for  five  months  they  had  been  tossed  on  the 
ocean,  before  setting  foot  on  the  new  world  of  their  desire, 
drew  up  a  simple  constitution  of  government.     As  this  ia 
the  first  care  in  the  order  of  nature,  it  ever  retains  its  para- 
mount importance.     Society  must  be  preserved  in  its  consti- 
tuted forms,  or  there  is  no  safety  for  life,  no  security  for  pro- 
perty, no  permanence  for  any  institution  civil,  moral  or  reli- 
gious.    The  first  efforts  then  of  social  men  are  of  necessity 
political.     Apart  from  every  call  of  ambition,  honorable  or 
selfish,  of  interest  enlarged  or  mercenary,  the  care  of  the 
government  is  the  first  care  of  a  civiUzed  community.     In 
the  early  stages  of  social  progress,  where  there  is  little 
property  and  a  scanty  population,  the  whole  strength  of  the 
society   must   be   employed    in   its   support   and  defence. 
Though  we  are  constantly  receding  from  these  stages,  we 
have  not  wholly   left  them.     Even  our  rapidly  increasing 
population  is  and  will  for  some  remain  small,  compared  with 
the  space  over  which  it  is  diffused  ;  and  this,  with  the  total 
absence  of  large  hereditary  fortunes,  will  create  a  demand 
for  political  services,,  on   the  one  hand,  and  a  necessity   of 
rendering  them  on  the  other.     There  is  then  no  ground  for 
ascribing  the  political  tendency  of  the  talent  and  activity 
of  this  country,  to  an  imagined  incompatibility  of  popular 
institutions  with  the  profound  cultivation  of  letters.     Sup- 
pose  our  government  were  changed  to-morrow ;  that  the  five 
points  of  a  stronger  government  were  introduced,  a  heredi- 
tary sovereign,  an  order  of  nobihty,  an  established  church, 
a  standing  army,  and  a  vigilant  poHce  ;  and  that  these  should 
take  place  of  that  admirable  system,   which  now,  like  the 
genial  air,  pervades  all,  supports  all,  cheers  all,  and  is  no- 
where seen.     Suppose  this  change  made,  and  other  circum- 
stances to  remain  the  same  ;  our  population  no  moi-e  dense. 


AT    CAMBRIDGE.  257 

our  boundaries  as  wide,  and  the  accumulation  of  private 
wealth  no  more  abundant.  Would  there,  in  the  new  state 
of  things,  be  less  interest  in  politics  ?  By  the  terms  of  the 
supposition,  the  leading  class  of  the  community,  the  nobles, 
are  to  be  politicians  by  birth.  By  the  nature  of  the  case,  a 
large  portion  of  the  remainder,  who  gain  their  livelihood 
by  their  industry  and  talents,  would  be  engrossed,  not  indeed 
in  the  free  political  competition,  which  now  prevails,  but  in 
pursuing  the  interests  of  rival  court  factions  One  class 
only,  the  peasantry,  would  remain,  which  would  take  less  in- 
terest in  politics  than  the  corresponding  class  in  a  free 
state  ;  or  rather,  this  is  a  new  class,  which  invariably  comes 
in  with  a  strong  government  ;  and  no  one  can  seriously 
think  the  cause  of  science  and  literature  would  be  promoted, 
by  substituting  an  European  peasantry,  in  the  place  of,  per- 
haps, the  most  substantial  uncorrupted  population  on  earth, 
the  American  yeomanry.  Moreover,  the  evil  in  question  is 
with  us  a  self-correcting  evil.  If  the  career  of  politics  be 
more  open,  and  the  temptation  to  crowd  it  stronger,  compe- 
tition will  spring  up,  numbers  will  engage  in  the  pursuit ; 
the  less  able,  the  less  industrious,  the  less  ambitious  must  re- 
tire, and  leave  the  race  to  the  swift  and  the  battle  to  the 
strong.  But  in  hereditary  governments  no  such  remedy 
exists.  One  class  of  society,  by  the  nature  of  its  position, 
must  be  rulers,  magistrates  or  politicians.  Weak  or  strong, 
willing  or  unwilling,  they  must  play  the  game,  though  they, 
as  well  as  the  people,  pay  the  bitter  forfeit.  The  obnoxious 
king  can  seldom  shake  off  the  empoisoned  purple  ;  he  must 
wear  the  crown  of  thorns,  till  it  is  struck  off  at  the  scaffold  ; 
and  the  same  artificial  necessity  has  obliged  generations  of 
nobles,  in  all  the  old  states  of  Europe,  to  toil  and  bleed  for  a 

Power  too  great  to  keep  or  to  resign. 

Where  the  compulsion  stops  short  of  these  afflicting  ex- 
tremities, still,  under  the  governments  in   question,  a  large 
portion  of  the  community  is  unavoidably  destined  to  the 
22* 


258  EVEKETT^S    ORATION, 

calling  of  the  courtier,  the  soldier,  the  party  retainer  ;  to  a 
life  of  service,  intrigue  and  court  attendance  ;  and  thousands, 
and  those  the  prominent  individuals  in  society,  are  brought 
up  to  look  on  a  livelihood  gained  by  private   industry   as 
base  ;  on  study  as  the  pedant's  trade,  on  labor  as  the  badge 
of  slavery.     I  look  in  vain  in  institutions  like  these,  for  any 
thing  essentially  favorable  to  intellectual  pi'ogress.     On  the 
contrary,  while  they  must  draw  away  the  talent  and  ambi- 
tion of  the  country,  quite  as  much  as  popular  institutions 
can  do  it,  into  pursuits  foreign  from  the  culture  of  the  intel- 
lect, they  necessarily  doom  to  obscurity  no  small  part   of 
the  mental  energy  of  the  land.     For  that  mental  energy  has 
been  equally  diffused  by  sterner  levellers  than  ever  marched 
in  the  van  of  a  Revolution  ;  the  nature  of  man  and  the 
Providence  of  God.     Native  character,  strength  and  quick- 
ness of  mind,  are  not  of  the  number  of  distinctions  and  ac- 
complishments, that  human  institutions  can  monopolize  with- 
in a  city's  walls.     In  quiet  times,  they   remain  and  perish 
in  the  obscurity  to  which  a  false  organization  of  society 
consigns  them.     In  dangerous,  convulsed  and  trying  times, 
they  spring  up  in  the  fields,  in  the  village  hamlets,  and  on 
the  mountain  tops,  and  teach  the  surprised  favorites  of  hu- 
man law,  that  bright  eyes,  skilful  hands,  quick  perceptions^ 
firm  purpose,  and  brave  hearts,  are  not  the  exclusive  appa- 
nage of  courts.    Our  popular  institutions  are  favorable  to  in- 
tellectual improvement  because  tlieir  foundation  is  in  dear 
nature.     They  do  not  consign  the  greater  part  of  the  social 
frame  to  torpidity  and  mortification.     They  send  out  a  vital 
nerve   to  every   member  of  the  community,  by   which  its 
talents  and  power,  great  or  small,  are  brought  into  living 
conjunction  and  strong  sympathy  with  the  kindred  intellect 
of  the  nation  ;  and  every  impression  on  every  part  vibrates 
with  electric  rapidity  through  the  whole.     They  encourage 
nature  to  perfect  her  work  ;  they  make  education,  the  soul's 
nutriment,  cheap  ;  they  bring  up  remote  and  shrinking  tal- 
ent into  the  cheerful  field  of  competition  ;  in  a  thousand 


AT    CAMBRIDGE. 


259 


Ways  they  provide  an  audience  for  lips,  which  nature  has 
touched  with  persuasion  ;  they  put  a  lyre  into  the  hands  of 
genius ;  they  bestow  on  all  who  deserve  it  or  seek  it,  the 
only  patronage  worth  having,  the  only  patronage  that  ever 
struck  out  a  spark  of  '  celestial  fire,' — the  patronage  of  fair 
opportunity.  This  is  a  day  of  improved  education  ;  new 
systems  of  teaching  are  devised  ;  modes  of  instruction,  choice 
of  studies,  adaptation  of  text  books,  the  whole  machinery  of 
means,  have  been  brought  in  our  day  under  severe  revision. 
But  were  I  attempt  to  point  out  the  most  efhcacious  and 
comprehensive  improvement  in  education,  the  engine,  by 
which  the  greatest  portion  of  mind  could  be  brought  and 
kept  under  cultivation,  the  discipline  which  would  reach 
farthest,  sink  deepest,  and  cause  the  word  of  instruction,  not 
to  spread  over  the  surface  like  an  artificial  hue,  carefully 
laid  on,  but  to  penetrate  to  the  heart  and  soul  of  its  objects, 
it  would  be  popular  institutions.  Give  the  people  an  object 
in  promoting  education,  and  the  best  methods  will  infallibly 
be  suggested  by  that  instinctive  ingenuity  of  our  nature 
which  provides  means  for  great  and  precious  ends.  Give 
the  people  an  object  in  promoting  education,  and  the  worn 
hand  of  labor  will  bs  opened  to  the  last  farthing,  that  its 
children  may  enjoy  means  denied  to  itself.  This  great  con- 
test about  black  boards  and  sand  tables  will  then  lose  some- 
thing of  its  importance,  and  even  the  exalted  names  of  Bell 
and  Lancaster  may  sink  from  that  very  lofty  height,  where 
an  over  hasty  admiration  has  placed  them. 


The  most  powerful  motives  call  on  us  as  scholars  for  those 
efforts,  which  our  common  country  demands  of  all  her  chil- 
dren. Most  of  us  arc  of  that  class,  who  owe  whatever  of 
knowledge  has  shone  into  our  minds,  to  the  free  and  popu- 
lar institutions  of  our  native  land.  There  arc  few  of  us, 
who  may  not  be  permitted  to  boast,  that  we  have  been  rear- 
ed in  an  honest  poverty  or  a  frugal  competence,  and  owe 


260  Everett's  oratio?.^ 

every  thing  to  those  means  of  education,  which  arc  equally 
open  to  all.  We  are  summoned  to  new  energy  and  zeal  by 
the  high  nature  of  the  experiment  we  are  appointed  in  Prov- 
idence to  make,  and  the  grandeur  of  the  theatre  on  which 
it  is  to  be  performed.  When  the  old  world  atforded  no  lon- 
ger any  hope,  it  pleased  heaven  to  open  this  last  refuge  of 
humanity.  The  attempt  has  begun,  and  is  going  on,  far 
from  foreign  corruption,  on  the  broadest  scale,  and  under  the 
most  benignant  auspices;  and  it  certainly  rests  with  us  to 
solve  the  great  problem  in  human  society,  to  settle,  and  that 
forever,  the  momentous  question — whether  mankind  can  be 
trusted  with  a  purely  popular  system  ?  One  might  almost  think, 
without  extravagance,  that  the  departed  wise  and  good  of 
all  places  and  times,  are  looking  down  from  their  happy 
seats  to  witness  what  shall  now  be  done  by  us  ;  that  they 
who  lavished  their  treasures  and  their  blood  of  old,  who  la- 
bored and  suffered,  who  spake  and  wrote,  who  fought  and 
perished,  in  the  one  great  cause  of  freedom  and  truth,  are 
now  hanging  from  their  orbs  on  high,  over  the  last  solemn 
experiment  of  humanity.  As  I  have  wandered  over  the 
spots,  once  the  scene  of  their  labors,  and  mused  among  the 
prostrate  columns  of  their  Senate  Houses  and  Forums,  I 
have  seemed  almost  to  hear  a  voice  from  the  tombs  of  departed 
ages ;  from  the  sepulchres  of  the  nations,  which  died  before  the 
sisht.  Thev  exhort  us,  they  adjure  us  to  be  faithful  to  our 
trust.  They  implore  us,  by  the  long  trials  of  struggUng  hu- 
manity, by  the  blessed  memory  of  the  departed  ;  by  the 
dear  faith,  Vhich  has  been  plighted  by  pure  hands,  to  the 
holy  cause  of  truth  and  man  ;  by  the  awful  secrets  of  the 
prison  houses,  where  the  sons  of  freedom  have  been  immured  ; 
by  the  noble  heads  which  have  been  brought  to  the  block  ; 
by  the  Avrecks  of  time,  by  the  eloquent  ruins  of  nations, 
they  conjure  us  not  to  quench  the  light  which  is  rising  on 
the  world.  Greece  cries  to  us,  by  the  convulsed  lips  of  her 
poisoned,  dying  Demosthenes ;  and  Rome  pleads  with  us  in 
the  mute  persuasion  of  her  mangled  Tully.     They  address  us 


AT    CAMBRIDGE.  261 

each  and  all  in  the  glorious  language  of  Milton,  to  one,  who 
might  have  canonized  his  memory  in  the  hearts  of  the  friends 
of  liberty,  but  who  did  most  shamefully  betray  the  cause, 
'  Reverere  tantam  de  te  expectationem,  spem  patriae  de  te 
unicam.  Reverere  vultus  et  vulnera  tot  fortium  virorum, 
quotquot  pro  libertate  tam  strenue  decertarunt,  manes  etiam 
eorum  qui  in  ipso  certamine  occubuerunt.  Reverere  exte- 
rarum  quoque  civitatum  existimationem  de  te  atque  sermones ; 
quantas  res  de  libertate  nostra  tam  fortiter  parta,  de  nostra 
republica  tam  gloriose  exorta  sibi  polliceantur  ;  qua?  si  tam 
cito  quasi  aborta  evanuerit,  profecto  nihil  seque  dedecorosura 
huic  genti  atque  periculosum  fuerit.' 

Yes,  my  friends,  such  is  the  exhortation  which  calls  on 
us  to  exert  our  powers,  to  employ  our  time,  and  consecrate 
our  labors  in  the  cause  of  our  native  land.  When  we  en- 
gage in  that  solemn  study,  the  history  of  our  race,  when  we 
survey  the  progress  of  man,  from  his  cradle  in  the  east  to 
these  last  limits  of  his  wandering  ;  when  we  behold  him 
forever  flying  westward  from  civil  and  religious  thraldom, 
bearing  his  household  gods  over  mountains  and  seas,  seeking 
rest  and  finding  none,  but  still  pursuing  the  flying  bow  of 
promise,  to  the  gUttering  hills  which  it  spans  in  Hesperian 
climes,  we  cannot  but  exclaim  with  Bishop  Berkeley,  the 
generous  prelate  of  England,  who  bestowed  his  benefoctions, 
as  well  as  blessings,  on  our  country, 

Westward  the  star  of  Empire  takes  its  way  ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  ; 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last. 

In  that  high  romance,  if  romance  it  be,  in  which  the 
great  minds  of  antiquity  sketched  the  fortunes  of  the  agea 
to  come,  they  pictured  to  themselves  a  favored  region  be- 
yond the  ocean,  a  land  of  equal  laws  and  happy  men,     Th3 


262  Everett's   oratio:*, 

primitive  poets  beheld  it   in   the  islands  of  the   blest  ;  the 
Doric   bards  surveyed  it  in  the  Hyperborean  regions ;  the 
sage  of  the  academy  placed  it   in   the  lost  Atlantis  ;  and 
even  the  sterner  spirit  of  Seneca  could  discern  a  fairer  abode 
of  humanity,   in  distant  regions  then  unknown.     We  look 
back  upon   these  uninspired  predictions,  and  almost  recoil 
from  the   obligations  they  imply.     By  us  must  these  fair 
visions  be  realized,  by  us  must  be  fulfilled  these  high  promi- 
ses, which  burst  in  trying  hours  from  the  longing  hearts  of 
the  champions  of  truth.      There  are  no  more  continents  or 
worlds  to  be  revealed  ;  Atlantis  hath  arisen  from  the  ocean, 
the   farthest  Thule  is  reached,   there  are  no  more  retreats 
beyond  the  sea,  no  more  discoveries,  no  more  hopes.     Here 
then  a  mighty  work  is  to  be  fulfilled,  or  never,  by  the  race 
of  mortals.     The  man  who  looks   with   tenderness  on  the 
sufferings  of  good  men  in  other   times;  the  descendant  of 
the  Pilgrims,  who  cherishes  the  memory  of  his  fathers  ;  the 
patriot  who  feels  an  honest  glow  at  the  majesty  of  the  sys- 
tern  of  which  he  is  a  member  ;  the  scholar,   who  beholds 
with  rapture  the  long  sealed  book  of  unprejudiced  truth  ex, 
panded  to  all  to  read  ;   these  are  they,  by  whom  these  auspi- 
ces  are   to   be  accomplished.     Yes,  brethren,  it   is  by  the 
intellect   of  the  country,   that  the  mighty  mass  is  to  be  in- 
spired  ;  that  its  parts  are  to  communicate  and  sympathize, 
its  bright  progress  to  be  adorned  with  becoming  refinements, 
its  strong  sense  uttered,  its  character  reflected,  its  feelings 
interpreted  to  its  own  children,  to  other  regions,  and  to  after 
ages. 

Meantime  the  years  are  rapidly  passing  away  and  trath- 
ering  importance  in  their  course.  With  the  present  year 
will  be  completed  the  half  century  from  that  most  important 
era  in  human  history,  the  commencement  of  our  revolution- 
ary war.  The  jubilee  of  our  national  existence  is  at  hand. 
The  space  of  time,  that  has  elapsed  from  that  momentous 
date,  has  laid  down  in  the  dust,  which  the  blood  of  many  of 


AT   CAMBRIDGE.  263 

them  had  lUready  hallowed,  most  of  the  great  men  whom, 
under  Providence,  we  owe  our  national  existence  and  privi- 
leges. A  few  still  survive  among  us,  to  reap  the  rich  fruits 
of  their  labors  and  sufferings ;  and  one  has  yielded  himself 
to  the  united  voice  of  a  people,  and  returned  in  his  age,  to 
receive  the  gratitude  of  the  nation,  to  whom  he  devoted  his 
youth.  It  is  recorded  on  the  pages  of  American  history, 
that  when  this  friend  of  our  country  applied  to  our  commis- 
sioners at  Paris,  in  1776,  for  a  passage  in  the  first  ship  they 
should  despatch  to  America,  they  wei'e  obliged  to  answer 
him,  (so  low  and  abject  was  then  our  dear  native  land,)  that 
they  possessed  not  the  means  nor  the  credit  sufficient  for 
providing  a  single  vessel,  in  all  the  ports  of  France.  Then, 
exclaimed  the  youthful  hero,  'I  will  provide  my  own;'  and 
it  is  a  literal  fact,  that  when  all  America  was  too  poor  to 
oftcr  him  so  much  as  a  passage  to  our  shores,  he  left,  in  his 
tender  youth,  the  bosom  of  home,  of  happiness,  of  wealth,  of 
rank,  to  plunge  in  the  dust  and  blood  of  our  inauspicious 
struggle. 

Welcome,  friend  of  our  fathers,  to  our  shores!  Happy 
are  our  eyes  that  behold  those  venerable  features.  Enjoy  a 
triumph,  such  as  never  conqueror  or  monarch  enjoyed,  the 
assurance,  that  throughout  America,  there  is  not  a  bosom, 
which  does  not  beat  with  joy  and  gratitude  at  the  sound  of 
your  name.  You  have  already  met  and  saluted,  or  will  soon 
meet,  the  few  that  remain  of  the  ardent  patriots,  prudent 
counsellors,  and  brave  warriors,  with  whom  you  were  asso- 
ciated in  achieving  our  liberty.  But  you  have  looked  round 
in  vain  for  the  faces  of  many,  who  would  have  lived  years  of 
pleasure  on  a  day  like  this,  with  their  old  companion  in  arms 
and  brother  in  peril.  Lincoln,  and  Greene,  and  Knox,  and 
Hamilton,  are  gone  ;  the  heroes  of  Saratoga  and  Yorktown 
have  fallen  before  the  only  foe  they  could  not  meet.  Above 
all,  the  first  of  heroes  and  of  men,  the  friend  of  your  youth, 
the  more  than  friend  of  his  country,  rests  in  the  bosom  of  the 


264  Everett's  obation. 

soil  he  redeemed.  On  the  banks  of  his  Potomac,  he  Hes  in 
glory  and  peace.  You  will  revisit  the  hospitable  shades  of 
Mount  Vernon,  but  him  whom  you  venerated  as  we  did,  you 
will  not  meet  at  its  door.  His  voice  of  consolation,  which 
reached  you  in  the  Austrian  dungeons,  cannot  now  break  its 
silence,  to  bid  you  welcome  to  his  own  roof.  But  the  grate- 
ful children  of  America  will  bid  you  welcome,  in  his  name. 
Welcome,  thrice  welcome  to  our  shores  ;  and  whithersoever 
throughout  the  limits  of  the  continent  your  course  shall  take 
you,  the  ear  that  hears  you  shall  bless  you,  the  eye  that  sees 
you  shall  bear  witness  to  you,  and  every  tongue  exclaim, 
with  heartfelt  joy,  welcome,  welcome  La  Fayette  ! 


EX  TRACT  FI1031  A  SPKECH, 

ON  THE  BILL  PROPOSING  TO  PAY  M.\RIGNY  D'AUTERIVE 
FOR  INJURY  DONE  TO  A  SLAVE  WHILE  WORKING  IN 
THE  TRENCHES  BEFORE  NEW-ORLEANS,  JAN.  1,   1315 

BY  TRISTAM  BURGES. 

I  want  words,  Sir,  to  express  my  regret  that  such  a  ques- 
tion, and  for  such  an  amount,  should  have  been  brought  into 
debate  on  this  floor^ — that  such  principles  and  such  terms 
should  have  been  pressed  into  the  discussion.  Why  urge 
the  question  of  slavery  upon  us,  and  at  the  same  time,  declare 
that  we  dare  not  decide  it  ?  We  have  no  right — we  claim 
no  riwht — we  wish  for  no  right — -to  decide  the  question  of 
slavery.  Men  from  the  free  States  have  already  decided 
the  question  for  themselves,  within  their  own  State  jurisdic- 
tion ;  and  such  men,  to  decide  it  here  for  other  States,  must 
first  be  renegade  from  the  Constitution,  or  oblivious  of  its 
high  and  controHing  principles.  When  has  this  question 
been  raised,  and  not  by  men  interested  in  its  eternal  slum- 
ber ?  The  Missouri  Question  was,  as  it  has  truly  been  said 
on  this  floor,  no  triumph.  It  was  no  triumph  of  policy ;  it 
was  no  triumph  of  humanity.  To  contract,  and  not  extend 
the  theatre  of  it,  is  the  true  policy  of  every  statesman,  as 
well  in  the  slave-holding,  as  in  those  States  uncursed  by  this 
moral  and  political  mischief.  On  this  matter  of  slavery, 
singular  and  ominous  political  events  have,  within  the  last 
forty  years,  transpired  in  the  great  community  of  the  New 
World.     What  another  half  century  will  exhibit,  is  knowu 

23 


266  BUKGEs'    SPEECH, 

to  Him  only  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  destiny  of  nations 
This  kind  of  population  is  rapidly  increasing ;  and,  should 
any  large  and  united  number  of  them  make  a  desperate 
struggle  for  emancipation,  it  will  then  indeed  be  found,  that 
the  policy  which  had  placed  aid  and  relief  at  any  greater 
distance,  was  cruelly  and  fatally  unwise.  Humanity  surely 
did  not  triumph  in  that  decision.  It  widened  the  mart  of 
slavery.  Southern  men  have  nobly  aided  in  driving  from 
the  ocean  a  traffic  which  had  long  dishonored  our  country, 
and  outraged  the  best  feelings  of  our  nature.  The  foreign 
slave-trade  is  now  piracy.  Would  to  God,  the  domestic 
might,  like  his  barbarous  brother  of  the  sea,  be  made  an  out- 
law of  the  land,  and  punished  on  the  same  gibbet. 

The  Constitution,  we  know,  does  not  permit  one  class  of 
the  States  to  legislate  on  the  nature  or  condition  of  the 
property  of  the  other  class.  Why  tell  us,  for  we  already 
know,  that  neither  our  religion  or  our  humanity  can  reach 
or  release  that  condition.  Humanity  could  once  bathe  the 
fevered  forehead  of  Lazarus — she  could  not  brina:  to  his 
comfort  so  much  as  a  crumb  from  the  sumptuous  and  pro- 
fuse table  of  Dives.  Religion  may  weep,  as  the  Saviour  of 
the  World  wept  over  the  proud  city  of  Herod  :  but  her  tears 
will  fall  like  the  rain-drops  on  the  burning  plough-share,  and 
serve  only  to  render  the  stubborn  material  more  obdurate. 

Wc  are  called  and  pressed  to  decide  this  question,  and 
yet  threatened,  that  the  decision  will  dissolve  the  Union. 
'The  discussion  and  the  Constitution  will  terminate  to- 
gether.'— '  Southern  gentlemen  will,  in  that  event,  leave  this 
Hall.'  Who  makes  this  menace,  and  against  whom?  It 
cannot  be  a  war  cry  ;  can  it  be  a  mere  party  watch-word  ? 
On  what  event  of  immeasurable  moment  are  we  thus  adjur- 
ed? In  a  paltry  claim  of  two  hundred  and  nine  and 
'  thirty'  pieces  of  silver,  shall  we,  who  have  in  this  Hall, 
lifted  the  hand,  or  '  kissed'  the  hallowed  gospel  of  God,  in 
testimonial  of  high  devotion  to  its  requirements,  shall  we 


i:>f  coGREss.  267 

now,  in  the  same  place,  '  deliver  up'    this  our  great  national 
charter  ?     Tliis  event  cannot  come  with  safety  to  our  coun- 
try, and  wisdom  would  admonish  us  to  inquire  what  concom- 
itants  may  attend  it ;  and  whom  they  will  visit  most  disas- 
trously  !    Must  we  he  schooled  on  the  benefits  of  the  Union  7 
It  were  wise  for  such  scholars  to  take  some  lessons  on  the 
evils  of  separation.     The  Hebrew,  when  fed  by  the  bread  of 
Heaven,  murmured  at  his  God  ;  looked  over  the  sea,  and 
pined  for  the  luxurious  slavery  of  Egypt.     Is  it  a  vain  ima- 
gining ;  or  may  there  be  a  charm  in  foreign  alliance,  more 
potent  than  the  plain  simplicity  of  domestic  independence  ? 
England  can,  indeed,  make  lords.     The  United  States  can 
make  none.     She   too,  can,  and  has  in  the  last   century, 
made  more  slaves  than  all  other  nations,  Pagan  or  Christian. 
We  are  surrounded,  protected,  and  secured  by  our-  Con- 
stitution.     By  this,   we  are   in  safety  from  the  power  and 
violence  of  the  world  ;  as  some  wealthy  regions  are,  by  their 
own  barriers,  sheltered  from  the  ravages  of  the  ocean.     Do 
not  forget,  for  they  never  forget,  that  a  small  insidious,  per- 
severing reptile,  may,  unseen,  bore  through  the  loftiest  and 
broadest    mound.     Th(!  water  follows  its  path,  silently  and 
imperceptibly  at  first,  but  the  rock  itself  is  worn  away  by 
the  continual  attrition  of  a  perpetually  running  stream.     A 
ravine,  a  breach  is  made  ;  and  the  ocean  rushing  in,  flocks, 
and  herds,  and  men,  are  swept  away  by  the  deluge.     Pause, 
before  you  peril  such  a  country  ;   pause,  before  you  place  in 
jeopardy  so  much  wealth,  and  life,  and  intellect,  and  loveli- 
ness.    Those  of  us  whose  sun  is  far  in  the  West,  may  hope 
to  he  sheltered  before  the  storm.     Be  not  deceived.    Sparsed 
and  blanched  as  are  our  hairs,  they  may  be  defiled  in  the 
blood  of  our  sons  ;  and  to  you,  who  in  the  pride  of  manhood, 
feel  the  warm  blood  flowing  at  your  hearts,  while  you  stand 
joyously  in  the   blooming  circle  of  household  loveliness,  the 
day  may  come,  unless  the   all-merciful  God  pours  into  the 
bosom  of  this  nation,  the  hallowed  and  healing  spirit  of  rau- 


268  BITRGKS''    SPEECH. 

tual  confidence  and  mutual  conciliation — to  you,  the  tre- 
mendous day  may  come,  when  you  shall  sigh  for  the  sad 
consolation  of  him,  who,  before  that  hour,  shall  have  shel- 
tered his  very  last  daughter  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  tomb. 
Do  not  understand  me  as  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood. 
Those  who  would  avert  the  events  of  that  catastrophe,  do 
not  stand  here  in  mercy,  or  to  menace,  or  to  deprecate. 
They  stand  here  amidst  all  the  muniments  of  the  Constitu- 
tion.  They  will  not  desert  the  ship,  leave  her  who  may  ; 
they  will  perform  the  voyage,  and  to  the  very  letter,  and 
in  the  full  spirit  of  all  and  singular  the  shipping  articles  ; 
and  they,  too,  will,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  perform  it 
without  fear — ^prosperously  as  they  trust,  and  with  triumph- 
ant  success." 


EXTRACT    FR03I   A    SPEECH, 

ON  THE  TARIFF,  AFTER  BEING  INTERRUPTED  BY  JIR. 
RANDOLPH'S  SAYING  "NEW-ENGLAND,  WHAT  IS  SHE  f 
'  DE[,ENDA  EST  CARTHAGO.'  " 

BY  TRISTAM  BURGES. 

Whence  all  this  abuse  of  New-England,  this  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  North  and  the  West  ?  It  is,  Sir,  because 
they,  and  all  the  patriots  in  the  nation,  would  pursue  a  policy 
calculated  to  secure  and  perpetuate  the  national  independence 
on  Great  Britain.  It  is  because  they  are  opposed  by  another 
policy,  which,  by  its  entire,  and  by  every  part  of  its  opera- 
tion,  will  inevitably  bring  the  American  people  into  a  con- 
dition  of  dependance  on  Great  Britain,  less  profitable,  and 
not  more  to  our  honor,  than  the  condition  of  colonies.  I 
cannot,  I  would  not  look  into  the  secrets  of  men's  hearts ; 
but  the  nation  will  examine  the  nature  and  tendencies  of  the 
American  and  the  anti-American  Systems  ;  and  they  can 
imderstand  the  arguments  offered  in  support  of  each  plan  of 
national  policy  ;  and  they  too  can  read,  and  will  understand 
the  histories  of  all  public  men,  and  of  those  two  systems  of 
national  policy.  Do  we,  as  it  has  been  insinuated,  support 
the  American  policy,  in  wrong,  and  for  the  injury  and  dam- 
age  of  Old  England  ?  I  do  not  \  those  with  whom  I  have 
the  honor  to  act,  do  not  pursue  this  course — No,  Sir, 

'  Not  that  I  love  England  less, 
But  that  I  love  my  country  more.' 

Who,  Sir,  would  wrong ;  who  would  reduce  the  wealth,  the 
power   of  England  ?     Who,   without   a   glorious   national 
23* 


21rO  BURGES^   gPEECIty 

pride,  can  look  to  that  as  to  our  mother  country  ?  It  is  the  lartd 
of  comfort,  accommodation,  and  wealth  ;  of  science  and  lite- 
rature ;  song,  sentiment,  heroic  valor,  and  deep,  various,  po- 
litical philosophy.  Who  is  not  proud,  that  our  fathers  were 
the  compeers  of  Wolfe  ;  that  Burke,  and  Chatham  spoke 
our  mother  tongue  ?  Who  docs  not  look  for  the  most  pros- 
perous eras  of  the  worid,  when  English  blood  shall  warm  the 
human  bosom  over  the  habitable  breadth  of  every  zone  : 
when  English  literature  shall  come  under  the  eye  of  the 
whole  world :  English  intellectual  wealth  enrich  every 
clime  ;  and  the  manners,  morals,  and  religion,  of  us  and 
our  parent  country,  spread  civilization  under  the  whole  star- 
lighted  heaven ;  and,  in  the  very  language  of  our  delibera- 
tions, the  hallowed  voice  of  daily  prayer  shall  arise  to  God^ 
throughout  every  longitude  of  the  sun's  whole  race. 

I  would  follow  the  course  of  ordinary  experience  ;  ren- 
der the  child  independent  of  the  parent  ;  and  from  the  re- 
sources of  his  own  industry,  skill,  and  prudence,  rich,  influ- 
ential, and  powerful  among  nations.  Then,  if  the  period  of 
age  and  infirmity  shall,  as  God  send  it  may  never,  but  if  it 
sliall  come,  then,  Sir,  the  venerated  parent  shall  find  shelter 
behind  the  strong  right  hand  of  her  powerful  descendant." 

The  policy  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  calls  him  to 
a  course  of  legislation  resulting  in  the  entire  destruction  of 
one  part  of  our  Union.  Oppress  New-England  until  she 
shall  be  compelled  to  remove  her  manufacturing  labor  and 
capital,  to  the  regions  of  iron,  wool,  and  grain  ;  and  nearer 
to  those  of  rice  and  cotton.  Oppress  New-England  until 
she  shall  be  compelled  to  remove  her  commercial  labor  and 
capital  to  New  York,  Norfolk,  Charleston,  and  Savannah. 
Finally,  oppress  that  proscribed  region,  until  she  shall  be 
compelled  to  remove  her  agricultural  labor  and  capital — her 
agricultural  capital  ?  No,  she  cannot  remove  that.  Oppress 
and  compel  her,  nevertheless,  to  remove  her  agricultural 
labor  to  the  far  off  West ;  and  there  people  the  savage  val- 
ley, and  cultivate  the  deep  wilderness  of  the  Oregon.     She 


OK   THE    TARIFF.  271 

must,  indeed,  leave  her  agricultural  capital ;  her  peopled 
fields  ;  her  hills  with  culture  carried  to  their  tops  ;  her  broad 
deep  bays  ;  her  wide  transparent  lakes,  long-winding  rivers, 
and  populous  waterfalls  ;  her  delightful  villages,  flourishing 
towns,  and  wealthy  cities.  She  must  leave  this  land,  bought 
by  the  treasure,  subdued  by  the  toil,  defended  by  the  valor 
of  men,  vigorous,  athletic,  and  intrepid  ;  men,  god-like  in 
all  making  man  resemble  the  moral  image  of  his  Maker  ;  a 
land  endeared,  oh  !  how  deeply  endeared,  because  shared  with 
women  pure  as  the  snows  of  their  native  mountains  ;  bright? 
lofty,  and  overawing,  as  the  clear,  circumambient  heavens 
over  their  heads  ;  and  yet  lovely  as  the  fresh  opening  bosom 
of  their  own  blushing  and  blooming  June.  '  Mine  own  ro- 
mantic country,'  must  we  leave  thee  ?  Beautiful  patrimony 
of  the  wise  and  good  ;  enriched  from  the  economy,  arid  or- 
namented by  the  labor  and  perseverance  of  two  hundred 
years !  Must  we  leave  thee,  venerable  heritage  of  ancient 
justice  and  pristine  foith  ?  And,  God  of  our  fathers  !  must 
we  leave  thee  to  the  demaffojjues  who  have  deceived,  and 
traitorously  sold  us?  We  must  leave  thee  to  them  ;  and  to 
the  remnants  of  the  Penobscots,  the  Pequods,  the  Mohicans, 
and  Narragansctts ;  that  they  may  lure  back  the  far  retired 
bear,  from  the  distant  forest,  again  to  inhabit  in  the  young 
wilderness,  growing  up  in  our  flourishing  cornfields  and  rich 
meadows ;  and  spreading,  with  briars  and  brambles,  over 
our  most  '  pleasant  places.' 

All  this  shall  come  to  pass,  to  the  intent  that  New-Eng- 
land may  again  become  a  lair  for  wild  beasts,  and  a  hunting, 
ground  for  savages.  The  graves  of  our  parents  be  polluted  ; 
and  the  place  made  holy  by  the  first  footsteps  of  our  pilgrim 
forefathers,  become  profaned,  by  the  midnight  orgies  of  bar- 
barous incantation.  The  eveninjr  wolf  shall  ajzain  howl  od 
our  hills,  and  the  echo  of  his  yell  mingle  once  more  with  tho 
sound  of  our  water-falls.  The  sanctuaries  of  God  shall  be 
made  desolate.  Where  now  a  whole  people  congregate  in 
thanksgiving  for  the  benefactions  of  time,  and  in  humble 
supplication  for  the  mercies  of  eternity,  there  those  very 


272  BUKGES'    SPEECH. 

houses  shall  then  be  left  without  a  tenant.  The  owl,  at 
noon-day,  may  roost  on  the  high  altar  of  devotion,  and  the 
'  fox  look  out  at  the  window,'  on  the  utter  solitude  of  a  New- 
England  Sabbath. 

New-England  shall,  indeed,  under  this  proscribing  policy, 
be  what  Switzerland  was,  under  that  of  France.  New- 
England,  which,  like  Switzerland,  is  the  eagle  nest  of  free- 
dom  ;  New-England,  where,  as  in  Switzerland,  the  cradle  of 
infant  hberty  'was  rocked  by  whirlwinds,  in  their  rage;' 
New-England  shall,  as  Switzerland  was,  in  truth,  be  '  the  im- 
molated victim,  where  nothing  but  the  skin  remains  uncon- 
sumed  by  the  sacrifice  ;'  New-England,  as  Switzerland  had, 
shall  have  '  nothing  left  but  her  rocks,  her  ruins,  and  her 
demagogues.' 

The  mind,  Sir,  capable  of  conceiving  a  project  of  mis- 
chief  so  gigantic,  must  have  been  early  schooled,  and  deeply 
imbued  with  all  the  great  principles  of  moral  evil. 

What,  then.  Sir,  shall  we  say  of  a  spirit,  regarding  this 
event  as  a  <  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished  V — a  spirit 
without  one  attribute,  or  one  hope,  of  the  pure  in  heart  ;  a 
spirit  which  begins  and  ends  every  thing,  not  with  prayer, 
but  with  imprecation ;  a  spirit  which  blots  from  the  great 
canon  of  petition,  '  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread;'  that, 
foregoing  bodily  nutriment,  he  may  attain  to  a  higher  relish 
for  that  unmingled  food,  prepared  and  served  up  to  a  soul 
<  hungering  and  thirsting  after  wickedness  ;'  a  spirit  which, 
at  every  rising  sun,  exclaims,  <  Hodie  !  hodie  !  Carthago 
delenda  /'  '  To-day,  to-day  !  let  New-England  be  destroyed !' 

Sir,  Divine  Providence  takes  care  of  his  own  universe. 
Moral  monsters  cannot  propagate.  Impotent  of  every  thing 
but  malevolence  of  purpose,  they  can  no  otherwise  multiply 
miseries,  than  by  blaspheming  all  that  is  pure,  and  prosper- 
ous, and  happy.  Could  demon  propagate  demon,  the  universe 
might  become  a  Pandemonium  ;  but  I  rejoice  that  the  Fa- 
ther  of  Lies  can  never  become  the  father  of  liars.  One 
'adversary  of  God  and  man,'  is  enough  for  one  universe. 
Too  much  !  Oh  !  how  much  too  much  for  one  nation. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SER3IOIV, 

ON    THE    DEATH  OF    HON.    WILLLOI    PI?.'CKNEV. 

BY  JARED  SPARKS. 

No  object  is  so  insignificant,  no  event  so  trivial,  as  not  to 
carry  with  it  a  moral  and  religious  influence.  The  trees 
that  spring  out  of  the  earth  are  moralists.  They  are  em- 
blems of  the  life  of  man.  They  grow  up  ;  they  put  on  the 
garments  of  freshness  and  beauty.  Yet  these  continue  but 
for  a  time  ;  decay  seizes  upon  the  root  and  the  trunk,  and 
they  gradually  go  back  to  their  original  elements.  The 
blossoms  that  open  to  the  rising  sun,  but  are  closed  at  night, 
never  to  open  again,  are  moralists.  The  seasons  are  mor- 
alists, teaching  the  lessons  of  wisdom,  manifesting  the  won- 
ders of  the  Creator,  and  calling  on  man  to  reflect  on  his 
condition  and  destiny.  History  is  a  perpetual  moralist, 
disclosing  the  annals  of  past  ages,  showing  the  impotency  of 
pride  and  greatness,  the  weakness  of  human  power,  the  folly 
of  human  wisdom.  The  daily  occurrences  in  society  are 
moralists.  The  success  or  failure  of  enterprise,  the  pros- 
perity of  the  bad,  the  adversity  of  the  good,  the  disappointed 
hopes  of  the  sanguine  and  active,  the  sufferings  of  the  vir- 
tuous, the  caprices  of  fortune  in  every  condition  of  life,  all 
these  are  fraught  with  moral  instructions,  and,  if  properly 
applied,  will  fix  the  power  of  religion  in  the  heart. 

But  there  is  a  greater  moralist  still ;  and  that  is  Death. 
Here  is  a  teacher,  who  speaks  in  a  voice,  which  none  can 
mistake ;  who  comes  with  a  power,  which  none  can  resist. 


274  sparks'  sermon  ok 

Since  we  last  assembled  in  this  place  as  the  humble  and 
united  worshippers  of  God,  this  stern  messenger,  this  mys- 
terious agent  of  Omnipotence,  has  come  among  our  num- 
bers, and  laid  his  withering  hand  on  one,  whom  we  have  been 
taught  to  honor  and  respect,  whose  fame  was  a  nation's 
boast,  whose  genius  was  a  brilliant  spark  from  the  ethereal 
fire,  whose  attainments  were  equalled  only  by  the  grasp  of 
his  intellect,  the  profoundness  of  his  judgment,  the  exube- 
rance of  his  fancy,  the  magic  of  his  eloquence. 

It  is  not  my  present  purpose  to  ask  your  attention  to  any 
picture  drawn  in  the  studied  phrase  of  eulogy.  I  aim  not  to 
describe  the  commanding  powers  and  the  eminent  qualities, 
which  conducted  the  deceased  to  the  superiority  he  held,  and 
which  were  at  once  the  admiration  and  the  pride  of  his 
countrymen.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  analyze  his  capacious 
mind,  nor  to  set  forth  the  richness  and  variety  of  its  treasures. 
The  trophies  of  his  genius  area  sufficient  testimony  of  these, 
and  constitute  a  monument  to  his  memory,  which  will  stand 
firm  and  conspicuous  amidst  the  faded  recollections  of  future 
ages.  The  present  is  not  the  time  to  recount  the  sources 
or  the  memorials  of  his  greatness.  He  is  gone.  The  no- 
blest of  Heaven's  gifts  could  not  shield  even  him  from  the 
arrows  of  the  destroyer.  And  this  behest  of  the  Most  High 
is  a  warning  summons  to  us  all.  When  death  comes  into 
our  doors,  we  ousfht  to  feel  that  he  is  near.  When  his  irre- 
versible  sentence  falls  on  the  great  and  the  renowned,  when 
he  severs  the  strongest  bonds,  which  can  bind  mortals  to 
earth,  we  ought  to  feel  that  our  hold  on  life  is  slight,  that  the 
thread  of  existence  is  slender,  that  we  walk  amidst  perils, 
where  the  next  wave  of  the  agitated  sea  of  Ufe,  may  baffle 
all  our  struggles,  and  carry  us  back  into  the  dark  bosom  of 
the  deep. 

When  we  look  at  the  monuments  of  human  greatness,  and 
the  powers  of  human  intellect,  all  that  genius  has  invented, 
or  skill  executed,  or  wisdom  matured,  or  industry  achieved, 
or  labor  accomplished ;  when  we  trace  these  through  the 


THE    DEATH    OF    PINCKNEY.  275 

successive  gradations  of  luiman  advancement,  wliat  are  they  ? 
On  these  are  founded  the  pride,  glory,  dignity  of  man.  And 
what  are  they  ?  Compared  with  the  most  insignificant  work 
of  God,  they  are  nothing,  less  than  notliing.  The  mighti- 
est works  of  man  are  daily  and  hourly  becoming  extinct. 
The  boasted  theories  of  religion,  morals,  government,  which 
took  the  wisdom,  the  ingenuity  of  ages,  to  invent,  have 
been  proved  to  be  shadowy  theories  only.  Genius  has  wast- 
ed itself  in  vain ;  the  visions  it  has  raised  have  vanished  at 
the  touch  of  truth.  Nothing  is  left  but  the  melancholy  cer- 
tainty, that  all  things  human  are  imperfect,  and  must  fail  and 
decay.  And  man  himself,  whose  works  are  so  fragile,  where 
is  he  ?  The  history  of  his  works  is  the  history  of  him- 
self.    He  existed  ;  he  is  gone. 

The  nature  of  human  life  cannot  be  more  forcibly  descri- 
bed than  in  the  beautiful  language  of  eastern  poetry,  which 
immediately  precedes  the  text :  "  Man,  that  is  born  of  wo- 
man, is  of  few  days,  and  full  of  trouble.  He  cometh  forth 
like  a  flower  and  is  cut  down  ;  he  fleeth  as  a  shadow,  and 
continueth  not.  There  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down, 
that  it  will  sprout  again  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof 
will  not  cease.  Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the 
earth,  and  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground  ;  yet,  throuo-h 
the  scent  of  water,  it  will  bud  and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a 
plant.  But  man  wasteth  away ;  yea,  man  giveth  up  the 
ghost,  and  whore  is  he  ?"  Such  are  the  striking  emblems  of 
human  life  ;  such  is  the  end  of  all  that  is  mortal  in  man. 
And  what  a  question  is  here  for  us  to  reflect  upon  !  "  Man 
giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?" 

Yes,  when  we  see  the  flower  of  life  fade  on  its  stalk,  and  all 
its  comeliness  depart,  and  all  its  freshness  wither  ;  when  we 
see  the  bright  eye  grow  dim,  and  the  rose  on  the  cheek  lose 
its  hue  ;  when  we  hear  the  voice  faltering  its  last  accents, 
and  see  the  energies  of  nature  paralyzed  ;  when  we  perceive 
the  beams  of  intelligence  grow  fainter  and  fainter  on  the 
countenance,  and  the  last  gleam  of  life  extinguished  :  when 


276  sparks'  sermon  on 

we  deposit  all  that  is  mortal  of  a  felloW-being  in  the  dark, 
cold  chamber  of  the  grave,  and  drop  a  pitying  tear  at  a  spec- 
tacle  so  humiliating,  so  mournful ;  then  let  us  put  the  solemn 
question  to  our  souls,  Where  is  he  ?     His  body  is  concealed 
in  the  earth  ;  but  where  is  the  spirit  ?     Where  is  the  intel* 
lect  that  could  look  through  the  works  of  God,   and  catch 
inspiration  from  the  Divinity  which  animates  and  pervades 
the  whole  ?     Where  are  the  powers  that  could  command,  the 
attractions  that  could  charm  ?  where  the  boast  of  humanity, 
wisdom,  learning,  wit,  eloquence,  the  pride  of  skill,  the  mys- 
tery of  art,  the  creations  of  fancy,  the  brilliancy  of  thought? 
where  the  virtues  that  could  win,  and  the  gentleness  that 
could  soothe  ?  where  the  mildness  of  temper,  the  generous 
affections,  the  benevolent  feelings,  all  that  is  great  and  good, 
all  that  is  noble  and  lovely,  and  pure  in  the  human  char- 
acter,— where   are  they  ?     They  are   gone.     We   can  see 
nothing  :  the  eye  of  faith  only  can  dimly  penetrate  the  re- 
gion to  which  they  have  fled.     Lift  the  eye  of  faith  ;  follow 
the  light  of  the  Gospel ;  and  let  your  delighted  vision  be 
lost  in  the  glories  of  the  immortal  world.     Behold,  there, 
the  spirits  of  the  righteous  dead  rising  up  into  newness  of 
life,  gathering  brightness  and    strength,   unincumbered  by 
the  weight  of  mortal  clay  and  mortal  sorrows,  enjoying  a 
happy  existence,  and  performing  the  holy  service  of  their 
Maker. 

Let  our  reflections  on  death  have  a  weighty  and  immedi- 
ate influence  on  our  minds  and  characters.  We  cannot  be 
too  soon  nor  too  entirely  prepared  to  render  the  account, 
which  we  must  all  render  to  our  Maker  and  Judge.  All 
things  earthly  must  fail  us  ;  the  riches,  power,  possessions 
and  gifts  of  the  world  will  vanish  from  our  sight;  friends 
and  relatives  will  be  left  behind ;  our  present  support  will 
be  taken  away  ;  our  strength  will  become  weakness  ;  and 
the  earth  itself,  and  all  its  pomps,  and  honors,  and  attrac- 
tions will  disappear.  Why  have  we  been  spared  even  till 
this  time?     We  know  not  why,  nor  yet  can  we  say  that  a 


ON    THE    DEATH    OF    PINCKNEY.  277 

moment  is  our  own.  The  summons  for  our  departure  may 
now  be  recorded  in  the  book  of  Heaven.  The  angel  may 
now  be  on  his  way  to  execute  his  solemn  commission. 
Death  may  already  have  marked  us  for  his  victims.  But, 
whether  sooner  or  later,  the  event  will  be  equally  awful, 
and  demand  the  same  preparation. 

One,  only,  will  then  be  our  rock  and  our  safety.  The 
kind  Parent,  who  has  upheld  us  all  our  days,  will  remain 
our  unfailing  support.  With  him  is  no  change ;  he  is  un- 
moved from  age  to  age  ;  his  mercy,  as  welU  as  his  being, 
endures  forever  ;  and,  if  we  rely  on  him,  and  live  in  obedi- 
ence to  his  laws,  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  from  our  eyes,  and 
all  sorrow  banished  from  our  hearts.  If  we  are  rebels  to  his 
cause,  slaves  to  vice,  and  followers  of  evil,  we  must  expect 
the  displeasure  of  a  holy  God,  the  just  punishment  of-  our 
folly  and  wickedness  ;  for  a  righteous  retribution  will  be 
awarded  to  the  evil  as  well  as  to  the  good. 

Let  it  be  the  highest,  the  holiest,  the  unceasing  concern 
of  each  one  of  us,  to  live  the  life,  that  we  may  be  pre- 
pared to  die  the  death,  of  the  righteous ;  that,  when  they 
who  come  after  us  shall  ask.  Where  is  he  ?  unnumbered 
voices  shall  be  raised  to  testify,  that,  although  his  mortal 
remains  are  mouldering  in  the  cold  earth,  his  memory  is  em- 
balmed in  the  cherished  recollections  of  many  a  friend  who 
knew  and  loved  him  ;  and  all  shall  say,  with  tokens  of  joy 
and  confident  belief.  If  God  be  just,  and  piety  be  rewarded, 
his  pure  spirit  is  now  at  rest  in  the  regions  of  the  blessed. 


H 


SPEECH 

OF  SA-GU-YU-WHAT-HAH,  OR  RED-JACKET, 

TO  AN  INDIAN  MISSIONARY,  WHO  REQUESTED  PERMIS- 
SION   TO  TEACH  THE  INDIANS  CHRISTIANITY, 

— ©fQO— 

Friend  and  Brother  ! — he  began — It  was  the  will  of 
the  Great  Spirit  that  we  should  meet  together  this  day.  He 
orders  all  things,  and  he  has  given  us  a  fine  day  for  our 
council.  He  has  taken  his  garment  from  before  the  sun, 
and  caused  it  to  shine  with  brightness  upon  us.  Our  eyes 
are  opened  that  we  see  clearly.  Our  ears  are  unstopped 
that  we  have  been  able  to  hear  distinctly  the  words  that  you 
have  spoken.  For  all  these  favors  we  thank  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  him  only. 

Brother  ! — This  council  fire  was  kindled  by  you.  It 
was  at  your  request  that  we  came  together  at  this  time. 
We  have  listened  with  attention  to  what  you  have  said. 
You  requested  us  to  speak  our  minds  freely.  Tliis  gives  us 
great  joy,  for  we  consider  that  we  stand  upright  before  you, 
and  can  speak  what  we  think.  All  have  heard  your  voice, 
and  all  speak  to  you  as  one  man.     Our  minds  are  agreed. 

Brother ! — You  say  you  want  an  answer  to  your  talk 
before  you  leave  this  place.  It  is  right  you  should  have  one, 
as  you  are  a  great  distance  from  home,  and  we  do  not  wish 
to  detain  you.  But  we  will  first  look  back  a  little,  and  tell 
you  what  our  fathers  have  told  us,  and  what  we  have  heard 
from  the  white  people. 

Brother ! — Listen  to  what  we  say.  There  was  a  time 
when  our  forefathers  owned  this  great  island.     Their  seas 


RED    JACKET  S    SPEECH.  279 

extended  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun.  The  Great 
Spirit  had  made  it  for  the  use  of  Indians.  He  had  created 
the  buffalo,  the  deer,  and  other  animals  for  food.  He  made 
the  bear  and  the  baaver,  and  their  skins  served  us  for  cloth- 
ing.  He  had  scattered  them  over  the  country,  and  taught 
us  how  to  take  them.  He  had  caused  the  earth  to  produce 
corn  for  bread.  All  this  he  had  done  for  his  rod  children 
because  he  loved  them.  If  we  had  any  disputes  about  hunt- 
ing-grounds, they  were  generally  settled  without  the  spilling 
of  much  blood.  But  an  evil  day  came  upon  us.  Your  fore- 
fathers crossed  the  great  waters,  and  landed  on  this  island. 
Their  numbers  were  small.  They  found  friends  and  not  ene- 
mies. They  told  us  they  had  fled  from  their  own  country  for 
fear  of  wicked  men,  and  come  here  to  enjoy  their  religion. 
They  asked  for  a  small  seat.  We  took  pity  on  them  and  grant- 
ed their  request,  and  they  sat  down  amongst  us.  We  gave 
them  corn  and  meat.  They  gave  us  poison  in  return.  The 
white  people  had  now  found  our  country.  Tidings  were  car- 
ried  back,  and  more  came  amongst  us.  Yet  we  did  not  fear 
them.  We  took  them  to  be  friends.  They  called  us  broth- 
ers. We  believed  them,  and  gave  them  a  larger  seat.  At 
length  their  numbers  had  greatly  increased.  They  wanted 
more  land.  They  wanted  our  country.  Our  eyes  were 
opened,  and  our  minds  became  uneasy.  Wars  took  place. 
Indians  were  hired  to  fight  against  Indians,  and  many  of 
our  people  were  destroyed.  They  also  brought  strong 
liquors  among  us.  It  was  strong  and  powerful,  and  has 
slain  thousands. 

Brother! — Our  seats  were  once  large,  and  yours  were 
very  small.  You  have  now  become  a  great  people,  and 
we  have  scarcely  a  place  left  to  spread  our  blankets.  You 
have  got  our  country,  but  are  not  satisfied.  You  want  to 
force  your  religion  upon  us. 

Brother! — continue  to  Hsten.  You  say  that  you  are 
sent  to  instruct  us  how  to  worship  the  Great  Spirit  agreeably 
to  his  mind  ;  and  if  we  do  not   take  hold  of  the  religion 


230  hed-jacket's  speech, 

which  you  white  people  teach,  we  shall  be  unhappy  hereaf- 
ter. You  say  that  you  are  right  and  we  are  lost.  How  do 
we  know  this  to  be  true  ?  We  understand  that  your  religion 
is  written  in  a  book.  If  it  was  intended  for  us  as  well  as 
for  you,  why  has  not  the  Great  Spirit  given  it  to  us  ;  and 
not  only  to  us,  but  why  did  he  not  give  to  our  forefathers 
the  knowledge  of  that  book,  with  the  means  of  understanding 
it  rightly  ?  We  only  know  what  you  tell  us  about  it.  How 
shall  we  know  when  to  believe,  being  so  often  deceived  by 
the  white  people. 

Brother  ! — ^You  say  there  is  but  one  way  to  worship  and 
serve  the  Great  Spirit.  If  there  is  but  one  religion,  why  do 
you  white  people  differ  so  much  about  it  ?  Why  not  all 
agree,  as  you  can  all  read  the  book  ? 

Brother  ! — We  do  not  understand  these  things.  We  are 
told  that  your  religion  was  given  to  your  forefathers,  and  has 
been  handed  down  from  father  to  son.  We  also  have  a  re- 
ligion which  was  given  to  our  forefathers,  and  has  been 
handed  down  to  us  their  children.  We  worship  that  way. 
It  teaches  us  to  be  thankful  for  all  the  favors  we  receive,  to 
love  each  other,  and  to  be  united.  We  never  quarrel  about 
religion. 

Brother  ! — ^The  Great  Spirit  has  made  us  all.  But  be 
has  made  a  great  difference  between  his  white  and  his  red 
children.  He  has  given  us  a  different  complexion  and  dif- 
ferent  customs.  To  you  he  has  given  the  arts  ;  to  these  be 
has  not  opened  our  eyes.  We  know  these  things  to  be  true. 
Since  he  has  made  so  great  a  difference  between  us  in  other 
things,  why  may  we  not  conclude  that  he  has  given  us  a 
different  religion,  according  to  our  understanding  ?  The 
Great  Spirit  does  right.  He  knows  what  is  best  for  his 
children.     We  are  satisfied. 

Brother  ! — We  do  not  wish  to  destroy  your  religion,  or 
take  it  from  you.     We  only  Avant  to  enjoy  our  own. 

Brother  ! — You  say  you  have  not  come  to  get  our  land  or 
our  money,  but  to  enlighten  aur  minds.     I  will  now  tell  yoa 


TO    A    MISSIONARr.  281 

that  I  have  been  at  your  meetings  and  saw  you  collecting 
money  from  the  meeting.  I  cannot  tell  what  this  money 
was  intended  for,  but  suppose  it  was  for  your  minister  ;  and 
if  we  should  conform  to  your  way  of  thinking,  perhaps  you 
may  want  some  from  us. 

Brother  ! — We  are  told  that  you  have  been  preaching  to 
white  people  in  this  place.  These  people  are  our  neighbors. 
We  are  acquainted  with  them.  We  will  wait  a  little  while 
and  see  what  effect  your  preaching  has  upon  them.  If  we 
find  it  does  them  good  and  makes  them  honest  and  less  dis- 
posed to  cheat  Indians,  we  will  then  consider  again  what 
you  have  said. 

Brother  ! — You  have  now  heard  our  answer  to  your  talk, 
and  this  is  all  we  have  to  say  at  present.  As  we  are''going  to 
part,  we  will  take  you  by  the  hand,  and  hope  the  Great  Spirit 
will  protect  you  on  your  journey,  and  return  you  safe  to 
your  friends. 


24* 


EXTRACT   FROM   A    SPEECH, 

ON  THE  BILL  FOR  THE  RELIEF  OF   CERTAIN   SURVIVING 
OFFICERS  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  ARMY. 

BY  MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 

— e^^— 

Let  us  look,  for  a  moment^^at  the  arguments  advanced  by 
the  opponents  of  the  bill.  The  meritorious  services  of  the 
petitioners,  the  signal  advantages  that  have  resulted  from 
these  services  to  us  and  to  posterity  ;  the  losses  sustained 
by  the  petitioners,  and  the  consequent  advantages  derived 
by  the  government  from  the  act  of  commutation,  are  une- 
quivocally admitted. 

But  it  is  contended,  we  have  made  a  compromise  legally 
binding  on  the  parties,  and  exonerating  the  government 
from  farther  liability ;  that  in  an  evil  and  unguarded  hour 
they  have  given  us  a  release,  and  we  stand  upon  our  bond* 

Now  the  question  which  I  wish  to  address  to  the  con- 
science and  the  judgments  of  this  honorable  body,  is  this,  not 
whether  this  issue  was  well  taken  in  point  of  law ;  not 
whether  we  might  not  hope  for  a  safe  deliverance  under  it  f 
but  whether  the  issue  ought  to  be  taken  at  all ;  whether  it 
comports  with  the  honor  of  the  government  to  plead  a  legal 
exemption  against  the  claims  of  gratitude  ;  whether,  in  other 
words,  the  government  be  bound  at  all  times  to  insist  upon 
its  strict  legal  rights. 

Has  this  been  the  practice  of  the  government  on  all  former 
occasions?  Or,  is  this  the  only  question  on  which  this 
principle  should  operate  ?  Nothing  can  be  easier  than  to 
show  that  the  uniform  practice  of  the  government  has  been 


VAN  buken's  speech.  283 

at  war  with  the  principle  which  is  now  opposed  to  the  claim 
of  tho  petitioners. 

Not  a  session  has  occurred  since  the  commencement  of 
this  government,  in  which  Congress  has  not  relieved  the 
citizens  from  hardships  resulting  from  unforeseen  contingen- 
cies, and  forborne  an  enforcement  of  law,  when  its  enforce- 
ment would  work  great  and  undeserved  injury.  F  might,  if 
excusable  on  an  occasion  like  this,  turn  over  the  statute 
book,  page  by  page,  and  give  repeated  proofs  of  this  asser- 
tion.    But  it  is  unnecessary. 

It  appears,  then,  that  it  has  not  been  the  practice  of  the 
government  to  act  the  part  of  Shylock  with  its  citizens  ;  and 
God  forbid  that  it  should  make  its  debut  on  the  present 
occasion,  not  so  much  in  the  character  of  a  merciless  cred- 
itor, as  a  reluctant,  though  wealthy  debtor;  withholding  the 
merited  pittance  from  those  to  whose  noble  daring  and  unri- 
vailed  fortitude,  we  are  indebted  for  the  privilege  of  sitting 
in  judgment  on  their  claims  ;  and  manifesting  more  sensibil- 
ity for  the  purchasers  of  our  lands  than  for  those  by  whose 
bravery  they  were  won,  and  but  for  whose  achievements, 
those  very  purchasers,  instead  of  being  the  proprietors  of 
their  soil,  and  the  citizens  of  free  and  sovereign  states,  might 
now  be  the  miserable  vassals  of  some  worthless  favorite  of 
arbitrary  power. 

If  disposed  to  be  less  liberal  to  the  Revolutionary  officers 
than  to  other  classes  of  community,  let  us  at  least  testify  our 
gratitude  by  reUeving  their  sufferings,  and  returning  a  por- 
tion of  those  immense  gains  which  have  been  the  glorious 
fruits  of  their  toil  and  of  their  blood. 

Such  would,  in  my  judgment,  be  a  correct  view  of  the 
subject,  had  the  government  relieved  itself  of  all  farther  lia- 
bility by  the  most  ample  and  unexceptionable  performance 
of  its  stipulations.  How  much  stronger,  then,  will  be  their 
appeal  to  your  justice,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  you  have  no 
right  to  urge  this  act  of  commutation  as  a  complete  fulfd- 
ment  of  your  promise  1 


EXTRACT    FROM    AN   ADDRESS, 

TO   THE    STUDENTS    OF    RUTGERS    COLLEGE. 
BY  WILLIAM  WIRT. 

• 

The  man  who  is  so  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  his  in- 
tentions, as  to  be  wilUng  to  open  his  bosom  to  the  inspection 
of  the  world,  is  in  possession  of  one  of  the  strongest  pillars 
of  a  decided  character.  The  course  of  such  a  man  will  be 
firm  and  steady,  because  he  has  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
world,  and  is  sure  of  the  approbation  and  support  of  Heaven. 
While  he,  who  is  conscious  of  secret  and  dark  designs  which, 
if  known,  would  blast  him,  is  perpetually  shrinking  and 
dodging  from  public  observation,  and  is  afraid  of  all  around, 
and  much  more  of  all  above  him. 

Such  a  man  may,  indeed,  pursue  his  iniquitous  plans, 
steadily  ;  he  may  waste  himself  to  a  skeleton  in  the  guilty 
pursuit ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  he  can  pursue  them  with 
the  same]  health-inspiring  confidence,  and  exulting  alacrity, 
with  him  who  feels,  at  every  step,  that  he  is  in  pursuit  of 
honest  ends,  by  honest  means. 

The  clear,  unclouded  brow,  the  open  countenance,  the 
brilliant  eye  which  can  look  an  honest  man  steadfastly,  yet 
courteously  in  the  fiice,  the  healthfully  beating  heart,  and 
the  firm,  elastic  step,  belong  to  him  whose  bosom  is  free 
from  guile,  and  who  knows  that  all  his  motives  and  purposes 
are  pure  and  right.     Why  should  such  a  man  falter  in  his 


WIUt's    AUURES3.  285 

course  ?  He  may  be  slandered  ;  he  may  be  deserted  by  tho 
world  ;  but  he  has  that  w  ithin  which  will  keep  him  erect, 
and  enable  him  to  move  onward  in  his  course  with  his  eyes 
fixed   on  Heaven,  which  he  knows  will  not  desert  him. 

Let  your  first  step,  then,  in  that  discipline  which  is  to 
give  you  decision  of  character,  be  the  heroic  determination 
to  be  honest  men,  and  to  preserve  this  character  through 
every  vicissitude  of  fortune,  and  in  every  relation  which 
connects  you  with  society.  I  do  not  use  this  phrase,  "  hon- 
est men,"  in  the  narrow  sense,  merely,  of  meeting  your  pe- 
cuniary engagements,  and  paying  your  debts  ;  for  this  tho 
common  pride  of  gentlemen  will  constrain  you  to  do. 

I  use  it  in  its  larger  sense  of  discharging  all  your  duties, 
both  public  and  private,  both  open  and  secret,  with  the  most 
scrupulous.  Heaven-attesting  integrity  :  in  that  sense,  far- 
ther, which  drives  from  the  bosom  all  little,  dark,  crooked, 
sordid,  debasing  considerations  of  self,  and  substitutes  in 
their  place  a  bolder,  loftier,  and  nobler  spirit :  one  that  will 
dispose  you  to  consider  yourselves  as  born,  not  so  much  for 
yourselves,  as  for  your  country,  and  your  fellow-creatures, 
and  which  will  lead  you  to  act  on  every  occasion  sincerely, 
justly,  generously,  magnanimously. 

There  is  a  morality  on  a  larger  scale,  perfectly  consistent 
with  a  just  attention  to  your  own  affairs,  which  it  would  bo 
the  height  of  folly  to  neglect :  a  generous  expansion,  a  proud 
elevation,  and  conscious  greatness  of  character,  which  is  the 
bsst  preparation  for  a  decided  course,  into  every  situation 
into  which  you  can  be  thrown  ;  and,  it  is  to  this  high  and 
noble  tone  of  character  that  I  would  have  you  to  aspire. 

I  would  not  have  you  to  resemble  those  weak  and  meager 
streamlets,  which  lose  their  direction  at  every  petty  impedi- 
ment  that  presents  itself,  and  stop,  and  turn  back,  and  creep 
around,  and  search  out  every  little  channel  through  which 
they  may  wind  their  feeble  and  sickly  course.  Nor  yet 
would  I  have  you  to  resemble  the  headlong  torrent  that  car- 
ries havoc  in  its  mad  career. 


286  WIRx'd    ADDRESS. 

But  I  would  have  you  like  the  ocean,  that  noblest  em- 
blem of  majestic  Decision,  which,  in  the  calmest  hour,  still 
heaves  its  resistless  might  of  waters  to  the  shore,  filling  the 
heavens,  day  and  night,  with  the  echoes  of  its  sublime  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  and  tossing  and  sporting  on  its  bed, 
with  an  imperial  consciousness  of  strength  that  laughs  at 
opposition.  It  is  this  depth,  and  weight,  and  power,  and 
purity  of  character,  that  I  would  have  you  to  resemble  ;  and 
I  would  have  you,  like  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  to  become 
the  purer  by  your  own  action. 


*:XTRACT  FR03I  A  SPEECH, 

ON  A  BILL  FOR  THE  RELIEF  OF  THE  SURVIVORS  OF  THE 
REVOLUTIONARY  ARMY. 

BY  TRISTAM  BURGES. 

Permit  me,  then,  Sir,  to  request  each  gentleman  of  this 
committee  to  look  at  this  provision  for  the  survivors  of  this 
Army  ;  and  then  to  look  at  the  kind,  the  amount,  and  -the 
manner  of  their  payment.  In  what  country  or  age  of  the 
world,  in  modern  times,  was  ever,  before  this,  such  an  Army 
kept  in  the  field  five  years,  at  a  current  expense  of  little 
more  than  two  millions  of  dollars  ?  Place  over  against  this 
sum,  in  the  fiscal  accounts  of  the  nation,  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  millions  expended  in  the  three  years'  war  of 
1812,  and  in  the  immense  diflcrence  of  these  two  sums,  you 
will  be  enabled,  as  if  aided  by  a  glass,  to  catch  some  faint 
outline  of  those  times,  when  a  Revolutionary  soldier  fought 
your  battles  for  sixty  shillings  per  month,  and  while  travelling 
home,  paid  seventy-five  dollars  for  a  dinner.  Examine  the 
account.  A  fearful  balance  will  be  found  standing  against 
the  nation  in  the  forum  of  conscience.  Wipe  it  ofi",  I  pray 
of  you.  Sir,  by  passing  the  provisions  of  this  Bill  to  our 
credit  in  that  ever-during  tribunal.  Suffer  not  the  impartial 
adjudication  of  history  to  be  there  recorded  against  us.  You 
all  must  recollect  that  the  self-devotion  of  that  young  hero 
of  Palestine,  who,  though  fainting  with  thirst,  yet  refused  to 
taste  the  water  of  his  native  spring,  presented  to  him  by 
three  of  his  youthful  warriors,  because  they  had  put  their 
lives  in  their  haads,  and  cut  their  way  through  an  enemy's 


288  surges'  speech, 

camp  to  obtain  it.  "  As  God  liveth,  it  is  your  blood,"  ex» 
claimed  the  generous  chieftain.  "  I  may  not  drink  of  it." 
This  money  in  our  Treasury  is,  Sir,  the  blood  of  these  men. 
Give  it  back  to  them.     It  will  not  prosper  in  our  hands. 

If,  notwithstanding  these   things,  it  should  be  said  that 
this  account  has  been  compromised  with  these  men,  and 
ultimately  settled,  let  it,  if  you  please,  Sir,  be  so  considered ; 
but  do  not  forget  the  different  results  of  this  compromise. 
About  the  close  of  the  war,  the  whole  national  debt ;  all 
Government  had  borrowed  of  foreigners  ;  all  they  had  bor- 
rowed of  citizens  ;  all  the  United  States  owed  to  the  several 
States  ;  all  they  owed  to  the  army,  as  by  Madison,  Hamil- 
ton, and  Ellsworth,  is  reported  to  Congress,  in  their  address 
to  the  States,  amounted  to  forty-two  millions  three  hundred 
and  seventy-five  dollars.      What  would  the  amount    have 
been,  had  you  paid  your  armies  in  silver  and  gold  ?     What ! 
had  you  redeemed  your  two  hundred  millions  of  Continental 
money,  hundred  for  hundred,  in  Spanish  milled  dollars  ?  The 
Government  saved  some  portion  of  the  immense  difference — 
how?      By  negotiations— with  whom?     Those  men,  who, 
in  the  Cabinet,  conducted  our  glorious  Revolution,  are  wor- 
thy to  be  held  in  everlasting  veneration.     Let  us.  Sir,  from 
the  savings  made  by  the  economical  negotiations  of  those 
days,  when  the  poverty  and  not  the  wiU  of  the  Government 
consented,  draw  some  fair  and  honorable  provision  for  this 
venerable  remnant  of  the  Revolutionary  Army  ;  and,  atten- 
tive to  that  voice  of  national  magnanimity,  calling  to  us 
from  every  region  of  our  country,  make  one  redeeming  effort, 
now,  in  the  times  of  maturity  and  abundance,  to  soften  the 
rigor  of  those  transactions,  which  grew  up  under  a  cold  and 
unpropitious  influence,  in  the  years  of  oppressed  and  parsi- 
monious minority. 

Let  us,  however,  give  up  this  question  to  the  cavils  of 
debate,  and  allow  that  we  owe  these  men  nothing  ;  that  in 
settlement  with  them,  we  saved  nothing  ;  that  we  have  paid 
them,  to  the  full,  the  amount  of  their  wages ;  and  in  a  man- 


IN    CONGRESS.  289 

«er,  too,  according  to  the  literal  terms  of  the  contract.  Sir, 
between  such  an  army  and  such  a  nation,  are  there  not 
some  higher  and  holier  feelings,  than  those  resulting  from 
the  gross  working-day  relations  of  mere  debt  and  credit  ? 
Few  men  live  now,  who  lived  in  those  days,  when  first  com- 
menced those  higher  relations,  now  existing,  between  this 
army  and  this  country ;  few,  I  say,  whose  memory  fully 
comprehends  the  stormy  years  of  our  Revolution,  and  the 
halcyon  days  of  our  prosperity.  Indeed,  Sir,  since  this  prO' 
vision  was  laid  on  your  table,  two  men  have  left  the  world, 
whose  illustrious  lives,  did,  like  the  bright  bow  of  Heaven, 
touch  the  two  extremes  of  this  varied  horizon.  They  owed 
their  glory  to  the  darkness  of  its  clouds ;  their  lustre  to  the 
brightness  of  its  sunshine.  Enough,  however,  live,  who  do 
know,  that  there  never  was  before  such  an  army ;  such"  a 
service  ;  such  a  result. 

Without  this  army  our  Revolution  had  never  been  achiev- 
ed. Instead  of  "  thus  sitting;  thus  consulting;"  thus,  in 
all  the  pride  and  power  of  self-government,  we  had  to  this 
hour,  been  the  mere  appurtenances  of  foreign  empire  ;  drag- 
ging after  us  the  weary  chain  of  colonial  dependence.  The 
enterprising  trade  of  your  fathers  was  confined  to  the 
waters,  and  the  ports  of  Great  Britain.  This  army  con- 
quered for  you  the  freedom  of  the  seas  and  the  commerce  of 
the  world.  They  too  conquered  for  you,  the  lands,  from 
almost  the  waters  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  to  the  head  springs 
of  the  Mississippi  ;  and  thus  finally  brought  into  your  acqui- 
sition your  whole  present  territory;  extending  over  the 
broad  breast  of  the  Continent,  from  ocean  to  ocean.  What 
a  wilderness  of  wealth  !  What  a  teeming  parent  of  populous 
and  powerful  States !  The  old  Colonies  were  mere  sepa- 
rate Colonies.  The  Revolution  united  their  hands,  and 
formed  them  into  a  political  brotherhood.  This  army  sus- 
tained that  Union  ;  placed  us  on  the  broad  basis  of  inde^ 
pendence ;  and  we  are,  by  their  toils  and  jeopardies,  now  a 
Ration,  among  the  most  efficient  and  prosperous.  Does  no 
25 


290  SURGES     SPEECH, 

spirit  of  gratiude  call  on  this  nation  to  remember,  and  to 
relieve  the  survivors  of  that  army,  now,  as  they  are  "old 
and  weary  with  service?"  I  pray  of  you.  Sir,  let  their 
country  give  thern  this  one  look  of  kindness — pour  this  one 
beam  of  gladness  on  the  desolate  twilight  of  their  days. 

Does  any  one  doubt  whether  the  spirit  of  the  nation  will 
go  along  with  us,  in  making  this  provision  ?  Why,  Sir,  when 
that  venerable  man,  now  standing  in  the  canvass  yonder  on 
your  wall,  two  years  ago  stood  in  his  proper  person  on  this 
floor,  the  whole  nation  seemed  to  spring  forward  to  give  him 
the  hand  of  gratulation.  Was  this  done  because  he  was  the 
noble  descendant  of  a  long  line  of  illustrious  ancestors,  a 
warrior  and  a  patriot  in  another  country  1  Was  it  not 
rather  because  he  was  a  soldier  of  our  Revolutionary  army  ? 
When  he  travelled  from  city  to  city,  and  the  universal  People 
went  out  to  meet,  to  welcome,  and  to  receive  him  to  their 
abodes,  was  it  not  because  he  was  a  soldier  of  our  Revolu- 
tionary  army  ?  When,  from  State  to  State  he  moved,  under 
one  continued  shout  of  congratulation,  it  was  not  the  great 
and  illustrious  nobleman,  but  the  long  remembered  and 
deeply  endeared  soldier  of  our  Revolutionary  army,  whom 
the  People  delighted  to  honor.  At  last,  when  he  left  our 
shores,  carrying  with  him  such  testimonials  as  were  appro- 
priate  for  such  a  nation  to  give,  and  such  a  man  to  receive, 
no  American  imagined,  though  such  was  the  fact,  that  we 
h  ad  been  doing  honors  to  the  most  meritorious  man  in  Eu- 
rope— all  men  believed  that  it  was  but  the  expression  of  na- 
tional gratitude  to  the  soldier,  the  Revolutionary  soldier,  who 
had  devoted  his  youth,  his  fortune  and  his  blood,  in  defence 
of  our  independence  !  Is  there  no  such  sentiment  now  in 
the  bosom  of  our  nation,  embracing,  warmly  embracing, 
these,  his  venerable  brothers  in  arms  ? 

At  the  last  great  national  festival  of  Independence,  the 
first  Jubilee  of  our  country,  why  were  these  men,  by  a  kind 
of  simultaneous  sentiment  "  beating  in  every  pulse,"  through 
h  e  nation,  called  out  to  assist  at  the  solemnities,  and  to 


rV   CONGRESS.  291 

partake  of  the  joys  and  festivities  of  the  day  ?  Was  this 
done,  Sir,  merely  to  tantalize  their  hopes  ?  or  was  it  done 
to  assure  them,  that  already  the  voice  of  the  People  had 
awarded  to  them  this  provision,  and  that  they  were  only  to 
wait  until  the  forms  of  law  had  given  efficiency  to  this 
award — until  the  recorded  enactments  of  their  Representa- 
tives in  Congress  had  embodied  and  pronmlgated  this  great 
voice  of  the  People  ? 

Sir,  the  character  of  your  bestowment  on  Lafayette  de- 
pends on  the  fate  of  this  measure.  Make  this  provision  for 
the  remainder  of  your  revolutionary  army,  and  this  and  that 
will  forever  stand  on  the  page  of  history,  as  illustrious  deeds 
of  national  gratitude.  Send  away  these,  his  meritorious 
brothers  in  arms,  to  "  beg  their  bread  through  realms  their 
valor  saved,"  and  your  gifts  to  that  illustrious  foreigner 
will,  in  the  eyes  of  other  nations,  and  of  posterity,  serve  only 
to  purchase  for  you  the  character  of  a  poor  and  a  pitiful 
ostentation. 

After  all.  Sir,  what  is  this  vast  sum,  which,  if  bestowed 
on  the  survivors  of  the  army,  may,  as  some  anxious  gentle- 
men have  intiiTiated,  exhaust  the  National  Treasury?  It  is 
three  millions  of  dollars ;  three  dimes  a  head  to  our  whole 
population  of  tiielast  census.  This  too,  in  a  stock;  a  legacy 
charged  on  the  rich  inheritance  which,  as  we  hope,  will  be 
transmitted  by  us  to  our  children,  and  who  will  rejoice  that 
we  have  left  them  something  to  do  in  memory  of  these  ven- 
erable friends  of  their  fatiiers.  The  annual  interest  of  this 
sum,  at  five  per  cent,  will  amount  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Our  very  school  boys  would  pay  it.  Yes, 
Sir  ;  they  would  pay  it.  I  have  a  boy  nine  years  old  ;  quite 
as  much,  and  no  more  patriotic  than  the  children  of  each  gen- 
tleman in  this  Hall ;  and  I  do  believe.  Sir,  I  could  reckon  up 
among  my  constituents  six  hundred  and  ninety-nine  more, 
the  fithers  of  such  sons,  all  middling-interest  men  too;  nor 
is  it  doubted  that  every  gentleman  in  this  House  might, 
from  his  own  district,   bring  into  ths  enumeration  quite  as 


292  BUKGES'     SPEECH. 

long  a  list.  There  are,  Sir,  of  this  description  of  boys  in  the 
United  States,  at  the  least,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 
They  have  heard  much,  and  already  read  something  of  the 
war  and  of  the  army.  We  give  to  them  some  small  annual 
subsidy,  more  or  less,  to  purchase  the  toys  and  the  sports  of 
childhood ;  indeed,  how  interesting  to  that  young  age  of 
cheap  delights  !  Should  we,  on  the  quarter-day  of  this  little 
annuity,  say,  each  of  us,  to  our  little  sons,  shall  I  give  you 
all  of  this  dollar,  or  take  out  one  quarter  to  pay  the  aged 
survivors  of  the  army  :  what.  Sir,  would  be  the  answer — the 
unprompted,  simultaneous  answer,  and  in  the  most  animated 
note  of  delighted  childhood,  and  heard,  too,  if  such  a  voice 
could  be  so  heard,  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  our  country 
-. — what  would  it  be  ?  Why,  Sir,  with  eyes  glistening  with 
ecstacy,  with  imploring  hands,  and  a  voice  hurried  with 
eagerness,  they  would  exclaim,  "  Give  it,  dear  father,  give  it 
to  the  old  soldier ;  we  can  be  very  happy  with  much  less 
play  ;  but  they  cannot  live  without  bread," 


EXTRACT  FR03I   A    SERMON, 

ON    THE    REASONABLENESS    OF    CHRISTIAN    FAITH. 

BY  JOSEPH  S.  BUCKMINSTER. 

It  is  a  common  artifice,  of  those  who  wish  to  depreciate 
the  value  of  this  essential  principle  of  a  christian's  life,  to 
represent  faith  as  something  opposed  to  reason.  So  far  is  this 
from  being  true,  that  faith  is,  in  fact,  the  most  reasonable 
thing  in  the  world ;  and,  wherever  religion  is  not  concerned, 
the  universal  practice  of  mankind  evinces,  that  such  a  prin- 
ciple is  indispensable  to  the  most  common  exercise  of  the 
understanding,  and  to  the  daily  conduct  of  Ufe.  Faith  is 
reasonable,  because  it  is  the  involuntary  homage  which  the 
mind  pays  to  the  preponderance  of  evidence.  Faith,  that  is 
not  founded  on  testimony,  is  no  longer  faith. 

And  as  it  is  sufficient  evidence  only,  on  which  a  rational 
faith  can  be  supported,  so  if  the  whole  of  this  evidence  is 
intelligibly  presented  to  a  sound  understanding,  it  will  not 
fail  to  command  belief.  An  eye,  not  affected  by  disease, 
easily  distinguishes  colors ;  and  we  unavoidably  believe  the 
existence  of  the  objects  within  the  sphere  of  its  vision.  Now 
the  laws  of  moral  probability  are  just  as  sure  as  the  laws  of 
vision.  That  the  same  exhibition  of  facts,  or  the  same  pro- 
cess of  I'easoning,  does  not  produce  equal  conviction  on  dif- 
ferent minds,  is  not  more  suprising  than  that  the  same 
glasses  will  not  make  objects  equally  distinct  to  eyes  dif- 
ferently affected.     But  to  conclude,  from  this  variety  of 

effect,  that  the  objects  presented  do  not  exist,  or  that  the 
25* 


Sf04  BtrCKMINSTER's    SERMON, 

laws  of  vision  are  ill-founded  and  absurd,  would  be  no  more 
unreasonable  than  to  assume  the  folly  of  religious  faith,  or 
to  doubt  the  rational  conviction  of  a  pious  and  impartial  in- 
quirer, merely  because  the  whole  world  are  not  believers. 

We  cannot  wonder,  that  the  evidences,  on  which  our 
christian  faith  is  built,  do  not  produce  universal  conviction, 
when  we  remember,  that  this  is  a  religion,  which  contra- 
dicts many  of  the  selfish  propensities  of  the  heart,  and  is  at 
war  with  all  the  lusts  to  which  we  are  habitually  enslaved. 
It  is  a  religion,  which  condemns  many  of  our  habits,  and 
requires  us  to  moderate  ouy  growing  attachment  to  a  world 
we  cannot  bear  to  leave  ;  a  religion,  which  often  opposes 
our  passions,  which  shows  us  the  folly  of  our  fondest  expect- 
ations,  which  alarms  our  sleeping  fears,  undervalues  the 
objects  of  our  estimation,  requires  the  surrender  of  our  pre- 
judices, and  makes  it  necessary  for  us  to  be  in  readiness  to 
yield  up  even  our  comforts  and  our  life. 

Astonishing  would  it  be,  indeed,  if  a  system  like  this 
should  command  universal  belief,  if  prejudice  should  have 
nothing  to  object,  captiousness  nothing  to  cavil  at,  and 
indifference  no  excuses.  Astonishing,  indeed,  would  it  be, 
if  the  evidences  of  such  a  revelation  should  be  received, 
with  equal  facility,  by  the  worldly  and  the  spiritual,  the 
careless  and  the  inquisitive,  the  proud  and  the  humble,  the 
ambitious  and  the  unaspiring,  the  man  immersed  in  pleasure 
and  dissipation,  and  the  man  who  has  been  long  disciplined 
in  the  school  of  disappointment  and  affliction. 

Neither  is  religious  faith  unreasonable,  because  it  includes 
miraculous  events,  nor  because  it  embraces  a  series  of  truths, 
which  no  individual  reason  could  have  ascertained,  or  of 
which  it  may  not,  even  now,  see  the  necessity.  It  is  on 
this  account,  however,  that  we  so  often  hear  faith  opposed 
to  reason ;  but,  on  the  same  principle,  faith  in  any  extraor- 
dinary occurrence  would  be  opposed  to  reason. 

The  only  objection  to  the  credibility  of  miracles  is,  that 
they  are  contrary  to  general  experience ;  for  to  say,  that 


ON    CHRISTIAN    FAITH.  295 

they  arc  contrary  to  universal  experience,  is  to  assume  the 
very  fact  in  question.  Because  they  are  supernatural,  no 
testimony,  it  is  maintained,  can  make  it  reasonable  to  be- 
livc  them.  This  would  not  bo  just,  even  if  the  miracles 
which  religious  faith  embraces  were  separate,  insulated 
facts,  which  had  no  connexions  with  any  other  interesting 
truths ;  much  less  when  they  make  part  of  a  grand  system, 
altogether  worthy  the  interposition  of  God  to  establish. 

The  extraordinary  nature  of  miraculous  facts,  considered 
by  themselves,  is,  it  is  true,  a  presumption  against  them,  but 
a  presumption,  which  suthcient  testimony  ought  as  fairly  to 
remove,  as  it  does  remove  the  previous' improbability  of  ordi- 
nary  facts,  not  supernatural.  A  man,  born  and  living  with- 
in the  tropics,  who  had  never  seen  water  congealed,  would 
no  doubt  think  it  a  very  strange  story,  if  a  ti-avellcr  from 
the  north  should  assure  him,  that  the  same  substance,  which 
he  had  always  seen  liquid,  was  every  year,  in  other  countries, 
converted  into  a  solid  mass  capable  of  sustaining  the  great- 
est  weights. 

What  could  more  decisively  contradict  all  the  experience 
of  the  tropical  inhabitant,  and  even  the  experience  of  those 
with  whom  he  had  always  been  connected  ?  Yet  should  wo 
not  think  it  very  unreasonable,  if  he  should,  in  this  case, 
persist  in  discrediting  the  testimony  even  of  a  single  man, 
whose  veracity  he  had  no  reason  to  suspect,  and  much  more, 
if  he  should  persist  in  opposition  to  the  concurrent  and  con- 
tinually increasing  testimony  of  numbers  ?  Let  this  be  an 
illustration  of  the  reasonableness  of  your  faith  in  miracles. 

As  it  respects  the  credibility  of  revelation,  you  have  this 
alternative.  Will  you  believe,  that  the  pure  system  of 
christian  faith,  which  appeared  eighteen  hundred  years  ago, 
in  one  of  the  obscurest  regions  of  the  Roman  empire,  at  the 
moment  of  the  highest  mental  cultivation  and  of  the  lowest 
moral  degeneracy,  which  superseded  at  once  all  the  curious 
fabrics  of  pagan  philosophy,  which  spread  almost  instanta- 
neously through  the  civilized  world  in  opposition   to    the 


296  buckminster's  sermon. 

prejudices,  the  pride  and  the  persecution  of  the  times,  which 
has  ah-eady  had  the  most  beneficial  influence  on  society,  and 
been  the  source  of  almost  all  the  melioration  of  the  human 
character,  and  which  is  now  the  chief  support  of  the  har- 
mony,  the  domestic  happiness,  the  morals  and  the  intellect- 
ual improvement  of  the  best  part  of  the  world — will  you 
beheve,  I  say,  that  this  system  originated  in  the  unaided 
reflections  of  twelve  Jewish  fishermen  on  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
with  the  son  of  a  carpenter  at  their  head  ?  Or  will  you 
admit  a  supposition,  which  solves  all  the  wonders  of  this 
case,  which  accounts  at  once  for  the  perfection  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  the  miracle  of  its  propagation, — that  Jesus  was,  as 
he  professed  to  be,  the  prophet  of  God,  and  that  his  apostles 
were,  as  they  declared,  empowered  to  perform  the  miracles, 
which  subdued  the  incredulity  of  the  world. 

I  appeal  to  you,  ye  departed  masters  of  pagan  wisjlom, 
Plato,  Socrates,  Cicero,  which  of  these  alternatives  is  the 
most  rational,  the  most  worthy  of  a  philosophical  assent  ? 
Your  systems  have  passed  away,  like  the  light  clouds,  which 
chase  one  another  over  the  hemisphere  ;  but  the  gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  sun  of  righteousness,  pursues  its  equal  and 
luminous  career,  uninterrupted  and  unobscured.  Sui'ely,  ii 
a  miracle  of  the  New  Testament  is  incredible,  what  will  you 
say  of  the  enormous  faith  of  a  man,  who  believes  in  that 
monster  of  improbability,  which  we  have  described,  the 
simply  human  origin  and  progress  of  Christianity  ? 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SER3ION, 

Oi\    THE    I3IPORTANCE    OF    CHRISTIAN    FAITH. 
BY  JOSEPH  S.  BUCKMINSTER. 

TiiE  value  of  christian  faith  may  bo  estimated  from  the 
consolation  it  aflbrds. 

Who  would  look  back  upon  the  history  of  the  world  with 
the  eye  of  incredulity,  after  having  once  read  it  with  the 
eye  of  faith  ?  To  the  man  of  faith  it  is  the  story  of  God's 
operations  To  the  unbeliever  it  is  only  the  record  of  the 
strange  sports  of  a  race  of  agents,  as  uncontrolled,  as  they 
are  unaccountable.  To  the  man  of  faith  every  portion  of 
history  is  part  of  a  vast  plan,  conceived,  ages  ago,  in  the 
mind  of  Omnipotence,  which  has  been  fitted  precisely  to  the 
period  it  was  intended  to  occupy.  The  whole  series  of 
events  forms  a  magnificent  and  symmetrical  fabric  to  the 
eye  of  pious  contemplation  ;  and  though  the  don*o  be  in  the 
clouds,  and  the  top,  from  its  loftiness,  be  indiscernible  to 
mortal  vision,  yet  the  foundations  are  so  deep  and  solid,  that 
we  are  sure  they  are  intended  to  support  something  perma- 
nent and  grand. 

To  the  sceptic  all  the  events  of  all  the  ages  of  the  world 
are  but  a  scattered  crowd  of  useless  and  indigested  materials. 
In  his  mind  all  is  darkness,  all  is  incomprehensible.  The 
light  of  prophecy  illuminates  not  to  him  the  obscurity  of 
ancient  annals.  He  sees  in  them  neither  design  nor  opera- 
tion, neither  tendencies  nor  conclusions.  To  him  the  won- 
derful knowledge  of  one  people  is  just  as  interesting,  as  the 
desperate  ignorance  of  another.  In  the  deliverance,  which 
God  has  sometimes  wrought  for  the  oppressed,  he  sees 
nothing  hut  the  fact  ;  and  in  the  oppression  and  decline  of 


298  bucksiinster's  sermox, 

haughty  empires,  nothing  but  the  common  accidents  of  na- 
tional fortune.  Going  about  to  account  for  events,  accord, 
ing  to  what  he  calls  general  laws,  he  never  for  a  moment 
considers,  that  all  laws,  whether  physical,  political,  or  moral 
imply  a  legislator,  and  are  contrived  to  serve  some  purpose. 
Because  he  cannot  always,  by  his  short-sighted  vision,  dis- 
cover the  tendencies  of  the  mighty  events,  of  which  this 
earth  has  been  the  theatre,  he  looks  on  the  drama  of  exist- 
ence  around  him  as  proceeding  without  a  plan.  Is  that 
principle,  then,  of  no  importance,  which  raises  man  above 
what  his  eyes  see,  or  his  ears  hear,  or  his  touch  feels,  at 
present,  and  shows  him  the  vast  chain  of  human  events, 
fastened  eternallv  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  returning,  after 
embracing  the  universe,  again  to  link  itself  to  the  footstool 
of  Omnipotence  ? 

Would  you  know  the  value  of  this  principle  of  faith  to  the 
bereaved  ?  Go,  and  follow  a  corpse  to  the  grave.  See  the 
body  deposited  there,  and  hear  the  earth  tin-own  in  upon  all 
that  remains  of  your  friend.  Return,  now,  if  you  will,  and 
brood  over  the  lesson,  which  your  senses  have  given  you, 
and  derive  from  it  what  consolation  you  can.  You  have 
learned  nothing  but  an  unconsoling  fact.  No  voice  of  com- 
fort issues  from  the  tomb.  All  is  still  there,  and  blank  and 
lifeless,  and  has  been  so  for  ages. 

You  see  nothing  but  bodies  dissolving  and  successively 
mingling  with  the  clods,  which  cover  them,  the  grass  grow- 
ing over  the  spot,  and  the  trees  waving  in  sullen  majesty 
over  this  refjion  of  eternal  silence.  And  what  is  there  more  ? 
Nothing  ? — Come,  faith,  and  people  these  deserts  !  Come, 
and  reanimate  these  regions  of  forgetfulness  !  Mothers  !  take 
again  your  children  to  vour  arms,  for  they  are  living.  Sons  ! 
3'our  aged  parents  are  coming  forth  in  the  vigor  of  regen- 
crated  years.  Friends  !  behold  your  dearest  connexions  are 
waiting  to  embrace  von.  The  tombs  are  burst.  Genera- 
tions,  long  since  lost  in  slumbers,  are  awaking.  They  are 
coming  from  the  east  and  the  west,  from  the  north  and  from 
the  south,  to  constitute  the  community  of  the  blessed. 


ON    CIIRISTIAX    FAITH.  299 

But  it  is  not  in  the  loss  of  t>iends  alone,  that  faith  furnish- 
es consolations,  which  are  inestimable.  With  a  man  of  faith 
not  an  allliction  is  lost,  not  a  change  is  unimproved.  He 
studies  even  his  own  history  with  pleasure,  and  finds  it  full 
of  instruction.  The  dark  passages  of  his  life  are  illuminated 
with  hope  :  and  he  sees,  that,  although  he  has  passed  through 
many  dreary  defiles,  yet  they  have  opened  at  last  into 
brighter  regions  of  existence.  He  recalls,  with  a  species  of 
wondering  gratitude,  periods  of  his  life,  when  all  its  events 
seemed  to  conspire  against  him.  Hemmed  in  by  straitened 
circumstances,  wearied  with  repeated  blows  of  unexpected 
misfortune,  and  exhausted  with  the  painful  anticipation  of 
more,  he  recollects  years,  when  the  ordinary  love  of  life 
could  not  have  retained  him  in  the  world.  Many  a  time  he 
might  have  wished  to  lay  down  his  being  in  disgust,  had  hot 
something  more  than  the  senses  provide  us  with,  kept  up  the 
elasticity  of  his  mind.  He  yet  Uves,  and  has  found  that 
light  is  sown  for  tlie  righteous,  and  gladness  for  tho  upright 
in  heart. 

The  man  of  faith  discovers  some  gracious  purpose  in 
every  combination  of  circumstances.  Wherever  he  finds 
himself,  he  knows  that  he  has  a  destination — he  has,  there- 
fore,  a  duty.  Every  event,  has,  in  his  eye,  a  tendency  and 
an  aim.  Nothing  is  accidental,  nothing  without  a  purpose, 
nothing  unattended  with  benevolent  consequences.  Every 
thing  on  earth  is  probationary,  nothing  ultimate.  He  is  poor 
— perhaps  his  plans  have  been  defeated — he  finds  it  difficult 
to  provide  for  the  exigencies  of  Ufe — sickness  is  permitted  to 
invade  the  quiet  of  his  household — long  confinement  impris- 
ons  his  activity,  and  cuts  short  the  exertions,  on  which  so 
many  depend — something  apparently  unlucky  mars  his  best 
plans — new  failures  and  embarrassments  among  his  friends 
present  themselves,  and  throw  additional  obstructions  in  his 
way — the  world  look  on,  and  say,  all  these  things  are  against 
him. 

Some  wait  coolly  for  the  hour,  when  he  shall  sink  under 
the  compUcated  embarrassments  of  his  cruel  fortune.     0th. 


300  buckminster's  sermon, 

ers,  of  a  kinder  spirit,  regard  him  with  compassion,  and  won- 
der how  he  can  sustain  such  a  variety  of  wo.  A  few  there 
are,  a  very  few  I  fear,  who  can  understand  something  of 
the  serenity  of  his  mind,  and  comprehend  something  of  the 
nature  of  his  fortitude.  There  are  those,  whose  sympathetic 
piety  can  read  and  interpret  the  characters  of  resignation 
on  his  brow.  There  are  those,  in  fine,  who  have  felt  the 
influence  of  faith. 

In  this  influence  there  is  nothing  mysterious,  nothing  ro- 
mantic, nothing  of  which  the  highest  reason  may  be  ashamed. 
It  shows  the  christian  his  God,  in  all  the  mild  majesty  of 
his  parental  character.  It  shows  you  God,  disposing  in  still 
and  benevolent  wisdom  the  events  of  every  individual's  life, 
pressing  the  pious  spirit  with  the  weight  of  calamity  to  in- 
crease the  elasticity  of  the  mind,  producing  characters  of 
unexpected  worth  by  unexpected  misfortune,  invigorating 
certain  virtues  by  peculiar  probations,  thus  breaking  the 
fetters  which  bind  us  to  temporal  things,  and 

From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  thence  again,  and  better  still. 
In  infinite  progression. 

When  the  sun  of  the  believer's  hopes,  according  to  common 
calculations,  is  set,  to  the  eye  of  faith  it  is  still  visible. 
When  much  of  the  rest  of  the  world  is  in  darkness,  the  high 
ground  of  faith  is  illuminated  with  the  brightness  of  religious 
consolation. 

Come,  now,  my  incredulous  friends,  and  follow  me  to  the 
bed  of  the  dying  beUever.  Would  you  see,  in  what  peace  a 
christian  can  die?  Watch  the  last  gleams  of  thought, 
which  stream  from  his  dying  eyes.  Do  you  see  any  thing 
like  apprehension  ?  The  world,  it  is  true,  begins  to  shut  in. 
The  shadows  of  evening  collect  around  his  senses.  A  dark 
mist  thickens  and  rests  upon  the  objects,  which  have  hither- 
to engaged  his  observation.  The  countenances  of  his  friends 
become  more  and  more  indistinct.     The  sweet  expresssions 


ON   CHRISTIAN    FAITH.  301 

of  love  and  friendship  are  no  longer  intelligible.  His  ear 
wakes  no  more  at  the  well-known  voice  of  his  children,  and 
the  soothing  accents  of  tender  affection  die  away,  unheard, 
upon  his  decaying  senses.  To  him  the  spectacle  of  human 
life  is  drawing  to  its  close,  and  the  curtain  is  descending, 
which  shuts  out  this  earth,  its  actors,  and  its  scenes.  He 
is  no  longer  interested  in  all  that  is  done  under  the  sun. 
O !  that  I  could  now  open  to  you  the  recesses  of  his  soul ; 
that  I  could  reveal  to  you  the  light,  which  darts  into  the 
chambers  of  his  understanding.  He  approaches  the  world, 
which  he  has  so  long  seen  in  faith.  The  imagination  now 
collects  its  diminished  strength,  and  the  eye  of  faith  opens 
wide. 

Friends !  do  not  stand,  thus  fixed  in  sorrow,  around  this 
bed  of  death.  Why  are  you  so  still  and  silent  ?  Fear  not 
to  move — you  cannot  disturb  the  last  visions,  which  en- 
trance this  holy  spirit.  Your  lamentations  break  not  in 
upon  the  songs  of  seraphs,  which  enwrap  his  hearing  in  ec- 
stasy. Crowd,  if  you  choose,  around  his  couch — he  heeds 
you  not — already  he  sees  the  spirits  of  the  just  advancing 
tofirether  to  receive  a  kindred  soul.  Press  him  not  with  im- 
portunities;  urge  him  not  with  alleviations.  Think  you  he 
wants  now  these  tones  of  mortal  voices — these  material, 
these  gross  consolations  ?  No !  He  is  going  to  add  another 
to  the  myriads  of  the  just,  that  are  every  moment  crowding 
into  the  portals  of  heaven  ! 

He  is  entering  on  a  nobler  life.  He  leaves  you — he  leaves 
you,  weeping  children  of  mortality,  to  grope  about  a  little 
longer  among  the  miseries  and  sensualities  of  a  worldly  life. 
Already  he  cries  to  you  from  the  regions  of  bliss.  Will  you 
not  join  him  there  ?  Will  you  not  taste  the  sublime  joys  of 
faith  ?  There  are  your  predecessors  in  virtue  ;  there,  too, 
are  places  left  for  your  contemporaries.  There  are  seats 
for  you  in  the  assembly  of  the  just  made  perfect,  in  the 
innumerable  company  of  angels,  where  is  Jesus,  the  media- 
tor of  the  new  covenant,  and  God,  the  judge  of  all. 
26 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  SPEECH, 

IN  THE  TRIAL  OF  SAMUEL  CHASE,  A  JUSTICE  OF  THE 
SUPREME  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  WHO  WAS 
IMPEACHED  BEFORE  THE  SENATE  FOR  HIGH  CRIMES 
AND  MISDEMEANORS. 

BY  JOSEPH  HOPKINSON. 

A  VERY  strange  and  unexpected  effort  has  been  made, 
sir,  to  raise  a  prejudice  against  the  respondent  on  this  occa- 
sion, by  exciting  or  rather  forcing  a  sympathy  for  John 
Fries.  We  have  heard  him  most  pathetic  ally  described  as 
the  ignorant,  the  friendless,  the  innocent  John  Fries.  The 
ignorant  John  Fries !  Is  this  the  man  who  undertook  to 
decide  that  a  law,  which  had  passed  the  wisdom  of  the  Con- 
gress  of  the  United  States,  was  impolitic  and  unconstitu- 
tional;  and  who  stood  so  confident  of  this  opinion,  as  to 
maintain  it  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  ?  He  will  not  thank 
the  gentleman  for  this  compliment,  or  accept  the  plea  of 
ignorance  as  an  apology  for  his  crimes.  The  friendless  John 
Fries  !  Is  this  the  man  who  was  able  to  draw  round  him- 
self  a  band  of  bold  and  determined  adherents,  resolved  to 
defend  him  and  his  vile  doctrines  at  the  risk  of  their  own 
lives,  and  of  the  lives  of  all  those  who  should  dare  to  oppose? 
Is  this  the  John  Fries  who  had  power  and  friends  enough 
actually  to  suspend,  for  a  considerable  time,  the  authority 
of  the  United  States  over  a  large  district  of  country,  to  pre- 
vent the  execution  of  the  laws,  and  to  command  and  compel 
the  officers,  appointed  to  execute  the  law  ;  to  abandon  the 
duties  of  their  appointment,  and  lay  the  authority  of  the 


hopkinson's  speech.  803 

governmont  at  the  feet  of  this  friendless  usurper?  The 
innocent  John  Fries !  Is  this  the  man,  against  whom  a 
most  respectable  grand  jury  of  Pennsylvanin,  in  1799,  found 
a  bill  of  indictment  for  high  treason ;  and  who  was  after- 
wards convicted  by  another  jury,  equally  im[)artial  and  re- 
spectable, with  the  approbation  and  under  the  direction  of  a 
judge,  whose  humanity  and  conduct  on  that  very  occa- 
sion have  received  the  most  unqualified  praise  of  the  honor- 
able manager  who  thus  sympathizes  with  Fries  1  Is  this 
the  John  Fries,  against  whom  a  second  grand  jury,  in  1800, 
found  another  bill  for  the  same  oftence,  founded  on  the  same 
facts,  and  who  was  again  convicted  by  a  just  and  conscien- 
tious  petit  jurv  ?  Is  this  innocent  German,  the  man  who, 
in  pursuance  of  a  wicked  opposition  to  the  power  and  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  a  mad  confidence  in  his  ability  to 
maintain  that  opposition,  rescued  the  prisoners  duly  arrested 
by  the  officers  of  the  government  and  placed  those  very  offi- 
cers under  duress  ;  who  with  arms  in  his  hands  and  menace 
on  his  tongue,  arrayed  himself  in  military  order  and  strength, 
put  to  hazard  the  safety  and  peace  of  the  country,  and 
threatened  us  with  all  the  desolation,  bloodshed  and  horror 
of  a  civil  war  ;  who,  at  the  moment  of  his  desperate  attack, 
cried  out  to  his  infatuated  followers,  "  come  on !  I  shall 
probably  fall  on  the  first  fire,  then  strike,  stab  and  kill  all  you 
can  ?"  In  the  fervid  imagination  of  the  honorable  manager, 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  this  man,  even  before  he  is  dead, 
are  made,  in  hypothesis,  to  cry  at  the  judgment-seat  of  God, 
against  the  respondent ;  and  his  blood,  though  not  a  drop  of 
it  has  been  spilled,  is  seen  to  stain  the  pure  ermine  of  justice. 
I  confess,  sir,  as  a  Pennsylvanian,  whose  native  state  has 
been  disgraced  with  two  rebellions  in  the  short  period  of  four 
years,  my  car  was  strangely  struck  to  hear  the  leader  of 
one  of  them,  addressed  with  such  friendly  tenderness,  and 
honored  with  such  flattering  sympathy  by  the  honorable 
manager. 


304  hopkinson's  speech. 

It  is  not  unusual,  sir,  in  public  prosecutions,  for  the  accu- 
sed to  appeal  to  his  general  life  and  conduct  in  refutation  of 
the  charges.  How  proudly  may  the  respondent  make  this 
appeal.  He  is  charged  with  a  violent  attempt  to  violate  the 
laws  and  constitution  of  his  country,  and  to  destroy  the  best 
liberty  of  his  fellow-citizens.  Look,  sir,  to  his  past  life,  to 
the  constant  courseof  his  opinions  and  conduct,  and  the  im- 
probability of  the  charge  is  manifest.  Look  to  the  days  of 
doubt  and  danger ;  look  to  that  glorious  struggle  so  long 
and  so  doubtfully  maintained  for  that  independence  we  now 
enjoy,  for  those  rights  of  self-government  you  now  exercise, 
and  do  you  not  see  the  respondent  among  the  boldest  of  tho 
bold,  never  sinking  in  hope  or  in  exertion,  aiding  by  his  tal- 
ents and  encouraging  by  his  spirit ;  in  short,  putting  his 
property  and  his  life  in  issue  on  the  contest,  and  making  tho 
loss  of  both  certain,  by  the  active  part  he  assumed,  should  his 
country  fail  of  success  ?  And  does  this  man,  who  thus  gave 
all  his  possessions,  all  his  energies,  all  his  hopes  to  his  coun- 
try and  to  the  liberties  of  this  American  people,  now  employ 
the  small  and  feeble  remnant  of  his  days,  without  interest  or 
object,  to  pull  down  and  destroy  that  very  fabric  of  freedom, 
that  very  government  and  those  very  rights,  be  so  labored 
to  establish  ?  It  is  not  credible  ;  it  cannot  be  credited,  but 
on  proof  infinitely  stronger  than  any  thing  that  has  been 
offered  to  this  honorable  court  on  this  occasion.  Indiscre- 
tions may  have  been  hunted  out  by  the  perseverance  of 
persecution ;  but  I  trust  most  confidently  that  the  just,  im- 
partial and  dignified  sentence  of  this  court,  will  completely 
establish  to  our  country  and  to  the  world,  that  the  respond- 
ent has  fully  and  honorably  justified  himself  against  tho 
charges  now  exhibited  against  him  ;  and  has  discharged  his 
official  duties,  not  only  with  the  talents  that  are  conceded 
to  him,  but  with  an  integrity  infinitely  more  dear  to  him. 


ARGUMENT, 

BEFORE  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS,  IN 
THE  TRIAL  OF  THOMAS  O.  SELFRIDGE,  FOR  KILLING 
CHARLES  AUSTIN. 

BY  SAMUEL  DEXTER. 

It  is  my  duty  to  submit  to  your  consideration  some  obser- 
vations in  the  close  of  the  defence  of  this  important,  and 
interesting  cause.  In  doing  it,  though  I  feel  perfectly  satis- 
fied that  you  are  men  of  pure  minds,  yet  I  reflect  with 
anxiety,  that  no  exertion  or  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  defend- 
ant's counsel  can  possibly  insure  justice,  unless  you  likewise 
perform  your  duty.  Do  not  suppose  that  I  mean  to  suggest 
the  least  suspicion  with  respect  to  your  principles  or  motives. 
I  know  you  to  have  been  selected  in  a  manner  most  likely  to 
obtain  impartial  justice  ;  and  doubtless  you  have  honestly 
resolved,  and  endeavored  to  lay  aside  all  opinions  wliich  you 
may  have  entertained  previous  to  this  trial.  But  the  diffi- 
culty  of  doing  this,  is  perhaps  pot  fully  estimated ;  a  man 
deceives  himself  oftener  ihan  he  misleads  others  ;  and  he 
does  injustice  from  hJ-s  errors,  when  his  principles  are  all  on 
the  side  of  rectitude.  To  exhort  him  to  overcome  his  pre- 
judices, is  IJJ^e  telling  a  blind  man  to  see.  He  may  be  dis- 
posed  to  overcome  them,  and  yet  be  unable  because  they  are 
unknown  to  himself.  When  prejudice  is  once  known,  it  is 
no  longer  prejudice,  it  becomes  corruption  ;  but  so  long  as  it 
is  not  known,  the  possessor  cherishes  it  without  guilt ;  he 
feels  indignation  for  vice,  and  pays  homage  to  virtue; 
and  yet  does  injustice.  It  is  the  apprehension  that  you 
may  thus  mistake,  that  you  may  call  your  prejudices 
26* 


306  dexter's  argument  in  thk 

principles,  and  believe  them  such,  and  that  their  effects 
may  appear  to  you  'the  fruits  of  virtue,  which  leads  us 
so  anxiously  to  repeat  the  request,  that  you  would  ex- 
amine your  hearts,  and  ascertain  that  you  do  not  come 
here  with  partial  minds.  In  ordinary  cases,  there  is  no 
reason  for  this  precaution.  Jurors  are  so  appointed,  by  the 
institutions  of  our  country,  as  to  place  them  out  of  the  reach 
of  improper  influence,  on  common  occasions  ;  at  least  as 
much  so  as  frail  humanity  will  permit. 

But  when  a  cause  has  been  a  long  time  the  subject  of  party 
discussion  ;  when  every  man  among  us  belongs  to  one  party 
or  the  othei*,  or  at  least  is  so  considered ;  when  the  demo- 
cratic presses,  throughout  the  country,  have  teemed  with 
publications,  fraught  with  appeals  to  the  passions,  and  bitter 
invective  against  the  defendant ;  when,  on  one  side,  every 
thing  has  been  done  which  party  rage  could  do,  to  prejudice 
this  cause ;  and  on  the  other,  little  has  been  said  in  vindica- 
tion of  the  supposed  offender,  though,  en  one  occasion,  I 
admit  that  too  much  has  been  said  ;  when  silence  has  been 
opposed  to  clamor,  and  patient  waiting  for  a  trial  to  sys- 
tematic labor  to  prevent  justice  ;  when  the  friends  of  the 
accused,  restrained  by  respect  for  the  laws,  kept  silence,  be- 
cause it  was  the  exclusive  right  of  a  court  of  justice  to  speak  ; 
when  no  voice  has  been  heard  from  the  walls  of  the  defend- 
ant's prison,  but  a  requet,t  that  he  may  not  be  condemned 
without  a  trial ;  the  necessary  consequence  must  be,  that 
opinion  will  progress  one  way  ;  that  tho  stream  of  incessant 
exertion  will  wear  a  channel  in  the  public  mind ;  and  the 
current  may  be  strong  enough  to  carry  away  those  who  may 
be  jurors,  though  they  know  not  how,  or  when,  they  receiv- 
ed the  impulse  that  hurries  them  forward. 

1  am  fortunate  enough  not  to  know,  with  respect  to  most 
of  you,  to  what  political  party  you  belong.  Are  you  repub- 
lican  federalists  ?  I  ask  you  to  forget  it :  leave  all  your  po- 
litical opinions  behind  you  ;  for  it  would  be  more  mischievous, 
that  you  should  acquit  the  defendant  from  the  influence  of 


TRIAL    OF    SELKKIDOE.  307 

these,  than  that  an  innocent  man.  by  mistake,  should  be  con- 
victed. In  the  latter  case,  his  would  be  the  misfortune,  and 
to  him  would  it  be  confined ;  but  in  the  other,  you  violate  a 
principle,  and  the  consequence  may  be  ruin.  Consider  what 
would  be  the  elTcct  of  an  impression  on  the  public  mind,  that 
in  consequence  of  party  opinion  and  feelings,  the  defendant 
was  acquitted.  Would  there  still  be  recourse  to  the  laws, 
and  to  the  justice  of  the  country  ?  Would  the  passions  of 
the  citizen,  in  a  moment  of  frenzy,  be  calmed  by  looking 
forward  to  the  decision  of  courts  of  law  for  justice  ?  Rather 
every  individual  would  become  the  avenger  of  imaginary 
transgression.  Violence  would  be  repaid  with  violence ; 
havoc  would  produce  havoc  ;  and  instead  of  a  peaceable  re- 
currence to  the  tribunals  of  justice,  the  spectre  of  civil  dis- 
cord would  be  seen  stalking  through  our  streets,  scattering 
desolation,  misery  and  crimes. 

Such  may  be  the  consequences  of  indulging  political  pre- 
judice on  this  day;  and  if  so,  you  are  amenable  to  your 
country  and  your  God.  Tiiis  I  say  to  you  who  are  feder- 
alists ;  and  have  I  not  as  much  right  to  speak  thus  to  those 
who  are  democratic  republicans  ?  That  liberty,  which  you 
cherish  with  so  much  ardor,  depends  on  your  preserving 
yourselves  impartial  in  a  court  of  justice.  It  is  proved  by 
the  history  of  man,  at  least  of  civil  society,  that  the  moment 
tiie  judicial  power  becomes  corrupt,  liberty  expires.  What 
is  liberty,  but  the  enjoyment  of  your  rights,  free  from  out- 
rage or  danger  ?  And  what  security  have  you  for  these,  but 
an  impartial  administration  of  justice?  Life,  liberty,  rcpu- 
tation,  property  and  domestic  happiness,  are  all  under  its 
peculiar  protection.  It  is  the  judicial  power,  uncorrupted, 
that  brings  to  the  dwelling  of  every  citizen,  all  the  blessings 
of  civil  society,  and  makes  it  dear  to  man.  Little  has  tiie 
private  citizen  to  do  with  the  other  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment.  What,  to  him,  are  the  great  and  splendid  events  that 
aggrandize  a  few  eminent  men  and  make  a  figure  in  his- 
tory '?     His  domestic  happiness  is  not  less  real,  because  it 


308       dexter's  argument  in  the 

will  not  be  recorded  for  posterity  ;  but  this  happiness  is  his 
no  longer  than  courts  of  justice  protect  it.  It  is  true,  inju- 
ries cannot  always  be  prevented  ;  but  while  the  fountains  of 
justice  are  pure,  the  sufferer  is  sure  of  a  recompense. 

Contemplate  the  intermediate  horrors  and  final  despotism, 
that  must  result  from  mutual  deeds  of  vengeance,  when  there 
is  no  longer  an  impartial  judiciary,  to  which  contending 
parties  may  appeal,  with  full  confidence  that  principles  will 
be  respected.  Fearful  must  be  the  interval  of  anarchy ; 
fierce  the  alternate  pangs  of  rage  and  terror,  till  one  party 
shall  destroy  the  other,  and  a  gloomy  despotism  terminate 
the  struggles  of  conflicting  factions.  Again,  I  beseech  you 
to  abjure  your  prejudices.  In  the  language  once  addressed 
from  Heaven  to  the  Hebrew  prophet,  "  Put  off  your  shoes, 
for  the  ground  on  which  you  stand  is  holy."  You  are  the 
professed  friends,  the  devoted  worshippers  of  civil  liberty ; 
will  you  violate  her  sanctuary  ?  Will  you  profane  her  tern- 
pie  of  justice  ?  Will  you  commit  sacrilege  while  you  kneel 
at  her  altar? 

I  will  now  proceed  to  state  the  nature  of  the  charge  on 
which  you  are  to  decide,  and  of  the  defence  Avhich  wo 
oppose  to  it ;  then  examine  the  evidence,  to  ascertain  the 
facts,  and  then  inquire  what  is  the  law  applicable  to  those 
facts. 

The  charge  is  for  manslaughter  ;  but  it  has  been  stated  in 
the  opening,  that  it  may  be  necessary  to  know  something  of 
each  species  of  homicide,  in  order  to  obtain  a  correct  idea 
of  that  which  you  are  now  to  consider. 

Homicide,  as  a  general  term,  includes,  in  law,  every  mode 
of  killing  a  human  being.  The  highest  and  most  atrocious 
is  murder  ;  the  discriminating  feature  of  which,  is  previous 
malice.  With  that  the  defendant  is  not  charged  ;  the  grand 
jury  did  not  think  that  by  the  evidence  submitted  to  them, 
they  were  authorized  to  accuse  him  of  that  enormous  crime. 
They  have,  therefore,  charged  him  with  manslaughter 
only. 


TKIAL    OF    SELFIUDGE.  309 

The  very  definition  of  this  crime,  excludes  previous  mal- 
ice ;  therefore  it  is  settled,  that  there  cannot,  with  respect  to 
this  oflbncc,  be  an  accessary  before  the  fact ;  because  the  in- 
tention of  committing  it  is  first  conceived  at  the  moment  of 
the  oft'once,  and  executed  in  tlie  heat  of  a  sudden  passion, 
or  it  happens  without  any  such  intent,  in  some  unlawful  act. 
It  will  not  be  contended  that  the  defendant  is  guilty  of  either 
of  these  descriptions  of  manslaughter.  Neither  party  sug- 
gests that  the  defendant  was  under  any  peculiar  impulse  of 
passion  at  the  moment ;  and  had  not  time  to  reflect ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  is  said  to  have  been  too  cool  and  deliberate. 
The  case  in  which  it  is  important  to  inquire,  whether  the 
act  was  done  in  the  heat  of  blood,  is  where  the  indictment  is 
for  murder,  and  the  intent  of  the  defence  is  to  reduce  the 
crime  from  murder  to  manslaughter :  but  Seltridge  is  hot 
charged  with  murder.  There  is  nothing  in  the  evidence 
that  has  the  least  tendency  to  prove  an  accidental  killing, 
while  doing  some  unlawful  act.  It  is  difficult  to  say,  from 
this  view  of  manslaughter,  when  compared  with  the  evi- 
dence, on  what  legal  ground  the  defendant  can  be  con- 
victed ;  unless  it  be,  that  he  is  to  be  considered  as  proved 
guilty  of  a  crime  which  might  have  been  charged  as  murder, 
and  by  law,  if  he  now  stood  before  you  under  an  indictment 
for  murder,  you  might  find  him  guilty  of  manslaughter,  and 
therefore  you  may  now  convict  him. 

This  does  not  appear  to  be  true  ;  for  the  evidence  would 
not  apply  to  reduce  the  offence  from  murder  to  manslaugh- 
ter, on  either  of  the  aforementioned  grounds.  Perhaps  it 
may  be  said,  that  every  greater  includes  the  less,  and  there- 
fore, manslaughter  is  included  in  murder ;  and  that  it  is  on 
this  principle  that  a  conviction  for  manslaughter  may  take 
place  on  an  indictment  for  murder.  I  will  not  detain  you 
to  examine  this,  for  it  is  not  doing  justice  to  the  defendant 
to  admit,  for  a  moment,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the 
evidence  proves  murder.  Our  time  will  be  more  usefully 
employed  in  considering  the  principles  of  the  defence.     Let 


310  dexter's  argument  in  the 

it  be  admitted,  then,  as  stated  by  the  counsel  for  government, 
that,  the  kilhng  being  proved,  it  is  incumbent  on  the  defendant 
to  discharge  himself  from  guilt.  Our  defence  is  simply  this, 
that  the  killing  was  necessary  in  self-defence  ;  or  in  other 
words,  that  the  defendant  was  in  such  imminent  danger  of 
being  killed,  or  suffering  other  enormous  bodily  harm,  that 
he  had  no  reasonable  prospect  of  escaping,  but  by  killing  the 
assailant. 

This  is  the  principle  of  the  defence  stripped  of  all  technical 
language.  It  is  not  important  to  state  the  difference  be- 
tween justifiable  and  excusable  homicide,  or  to  show  to 
which  the  evidence  will  apply  ;  because,  by  our  law,  either 
being  proved,  the  defendant  is  entitled  to  a  general  acquittal. 

Let  us  now  recur  to  the  evidence  and  see  whether  this 
defence  be  not  clearly  established. 

[Mr.  Dexter  here  went  into  a  minute  examination  of  the 
evidence,  after  which  he  proceeded  to  inquire  what  the  law 
was  applicable  to  the  facts  established  by  the  evidence.  Ho 
then  continued  his  speech  as  follows.] 

We  have  now  taken  a  view  of  the  facts,  and  the  positive 
rules  of  law,  that  apply  to  them  ;  and  it  is  submitted  to  you 
with  great  confidence,  that  the  defendant  has  brought  him- 
self within  the  strictest  rules,  and  completely  substantiated 
his  defence,  by  showing  that  he  was  under  a  terrible  neces- 
sity of  doing  the  act ;  and  that  by  law  he  is  excused.  It 
must  have  occurred  to  you,  however,  in  the  course  of  this 
investigation,  that  our  law  has  not  been  abundant  in  its  pro- 
visions for  protecting  a  man  from  gross  insult  and  disgrace. 
Indeed  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected,  that  the  sturdy  hunters, 
who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  common  law,  would  be  very  re. 
fined  in  their  notions.  There  is  in  truth  much  intrinsic  diffi- 
culty  in  legislating  on  this  subject.  Laws  must  be  made  to  op- 
erate equally  on  all  members  of  the  community  ;  and  such  is 
the  difference  in  the  situations  and  feelings  of  men,  that  no 
general  rule,  on  this  subject,  can  properly  apply  to  all.  That, 
which  is  an  irreparable  injury  to  one  man,  and  which   bo 


TEIAL    OP    SELFRIUOE.  311 

would  feci  himself  bound  to  repel  even  by  the  instantaneous 
death  of  the  aggressor,  or  by  his  own,  would  be  a  very  trivial 
misfortune  to  another. 

There  are  men  in  every  civilized  community,  whose  hap- 
piness and  usefulness  would  be  forever  destroyed  by  a 
beating,  wliich  another  member  of  the  same  community 
would  voluntarily  receive  for  a  five  dollar  bill.  Were  the 
laws  to  authorize  a  man  of  elevated  mind,  and  refined  feel- 
ings of  honor  to  defend  himself  from  indignity  by  the  death 
of  the  agcressor,  thev  must  at  the  same  time  furnish  an  ex- 
cuse  to  the  meanest  chimney  sweeper  in  the  country  for 
punishing  his  sooty  companion,  who  should  fillip  him  on  the 
cheek,  by  instantly  thrusting  his  scraper  into  his  belly.  But 
it  is  too  much  to  conclude,  from  this  difficulty  in  stating 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule,  that  extreme  cases  do  not 
furnish  them.  It  is  vain,  and  worse  than  vain,  to  prescribe 
laws  to  a  community,  which  will  require  a  dereliction  of  all 
dignity  of  character,  and  subject  the  most  elevated  to  out- 
rages from  the  most  vile.  If  such  laws  did  exist,  the  best 
that  could  be  hoped,  would  be,  that  they  would  be  broken. 
Extreme  cases  are  in  their  nature  exceptions  to  all  rules ; 
and  when  a  good  citizen  says,  that,  the  law  not  having  spe- 
cified them,  he  must  have  a  right  to  use  his  own  best  discre- 
tion on  the  subject ;  he  only  treats  the  law  of  his  country  in 
the  same  manner  in  which  every  Christian  necessarily  treats 
the  precepts  of  his  religion.  The  law  of  his  master  is, 
"  resist  not  evil ;"  "  if  a  man  smite  thee  on  one  cheek,  turn 
to  him  the  other  also."  No  exceptions  to  these  rules  are 
stated ;  yet  does  not  every  rational  Christian  necessa- 
rily make  them  ?  I  have  been  led  to  make  these  ob- 
servations,  not  because  I  think  them  necessary  in  the  de- 
fence of  Mr.  Selfridge  ;  but  because  I  will  have  no  voluntary 
agency  in  degrading  the  spirit  of  my  country.  The  greatest 
of  all  public  calamities,  would  be  a  pusillanimous  spirit,  that 
would  tamely  surrender  personal  dignity  to  every  invader. 
The   opposing  council  have   read   to  you,   from   books  of 


312  uexter's  argument  in  the 

acknowledged  authority,  that  the  right  of  self-defence  was 
not  given  by  the  law  of  civil  society,  and  that,  that  law 
cannot  take  it  away.  It  is  founded  then  on  the  law  of  na- 
ture,  which  is  of  higher  authority  than  any  human  institu- 
tion. This  law  enjoins  us  to  be  useful,  in  proportion  to  our 
capacities  ;  to  protect  the  powers  of  being  useful,  by  all 
means  that  nature  has  given  us,  and  secure  our  own  happi- 
ness, as  well  as  that  of  others.  These  sacred  precepts  can- 
not bs  obeyed  without  securing  to  ourselves  the  respect  of 
others.  Surely,  I  need  not  say  to  you,  that  the  man,  who  is 
daily  beaten  on  the  public  exchange,  cannot  retain  his 
standing  in  society,  by  recurring  to  the  laws.  Recovering 
daily  damages  will  rather  aggravate  the  contempt  that  the 
community  will  heap  upon  him  ;  nor  need  I  say,  that  when 
a  man  has  patiently  suffered  one  beating,  he  has  almost  in- 
sured  the  repetition  of  the  insult. 

It  is  a  most  serious  calamity,  for  a  man  of  high  qualifica- 
tions for  usefulness,  and  delicate  sense  of  honor,  to  be  driven 
to  such  a  crisis,  yet  should  it  become  inevitable,  he  is  bound 
to  meet  it  like  a  man,  to  summon  all  the  energies  of  the  soul, 
rise  above  ordinary  maxims,  poise  himself  on  his  own  mag- 
nanimity, and  hold  himself  responsible  only  to  his  God. 
Whatever  may  be  the  consequences,  he  is  bound  to  bear 
them  ;  to  stand  like  mount  Atlas, 

^  "When  storms  and  tempests  thunder  on  his  brow, 

And  oceans  break  their  billows  at  his  feet." 

Do  not  believe  that  I  am  inculcating  opinions,  tending  to 
disturb  the  peace  of  society.  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
the  only  principles  that  can  preserve  it.  It  is  more  dan- 
gerous  for  the  laws  to  give  security  to  a  man,  disposed  to 
commit  outrages  on  the  persons  of  his  fellow-citizens,  than 
to  authorize  those  who  must  otherwise  meet  irreparable 
injury,  to  defend  themselves  at  every  hazard.  Men  of  em- 
inent  talents  and  virtues,  on  whose  exertions,  in  perilous 


TRIAL    OF    SELFRIDGE.  313 

times,  the  honor  and  happiness  of  their  country  must  depend, 
will  always  bo  liable  to  be  degraded  by  every  daring  miscre- 
ant, if  they  cannot  defend  themselves   from  personal  insult 
and  outrage.       Men  of  this  description  must  always  feel, 
that  to  submit  to   degradation  and  dishonor,  is  impossible. 
Nor  is  this  feeling  confined  to  men  of  that  eminent  grade. 
We  have  thousands  in  our  country  who  [)ossess  this  spirit; 
and  without  them,  we  should  soon  deservedly  cease  to  exist 
as  an  independent  nation.     I  respect  the  laws  of  my  coun- 
try, and  revere  the   precepts  of  our  holy  religion  ;  I  should 
shudder  at  shedding  human  blood ;  I  would  practice  mode- 
ration and  forbearance,  to  avoid  so  terrible  a  calamity  ;  yet 
should  I  ever  be  driven   to  that  impassible  point,  where  de- 
gradation and  disgrace  begin,  may  this  arm  shrink  palsied 
from  its  socket,  if  I  fail  to  defend  my  own  honor. 

It  has  been  intimated,  that  the  principles  of  Christianity 
condemn  the  defendant.     If  he  is  to  be  tried  by  this  law,  he 
certainly  has  a  right  to  availhimself  of  one  of  its  fundamen- 
tal principles.     I  call  on  you  then  to  do  to  him,  as  in  similar 
•circumstances,  you   would   expect    others   to    do   to    you  ; 
change  situations  for  a  moment,   and  ask  yourselves,  what 
you  would  have  done,  if  attacked  as  he  was.     And  instead 
of  being  necessitated  to  act  at  the  moment,  and  without 
reflection,  take  time  to  deliberate.     Permit  me  to  state,  for 
you,  your  train  of  thought.     You  would  say — this  man,  who 
attacks  me,   appears  young,  athletic,  active  and  violent.     I 
am  feeble  and  incapable   of  resisting  him ;  he  has  a   heavy 
cane,  which  is  undoubtedly  a  strong  one,  as  he  had  leisure 
to  select  it  for   the  purpose  ;  he  may  intend  to  kill  me  ;  he 
may,  from  the  violence  of  his  passion,  destroy  me  without 
intending  it  ;  he  may  maim  or  greatly  injure  me ;  by  beat- 
ing me  he  must   disgrace  me.     This  alone  destroys  all  my 
prospects,  all  my  happiness,  and  all  my  usefulness.     Where 
shall  I  fly,  when  thus  rendered  contemptible  ?     Shall  I  go 
abroad?     Every  one  will  point  at  me   the  finger  of  scorn. 

Shall  I  go   home  1     My  children — I  have  taught  them  to 
27 


314  DEXTER  S    AEGUMEXT. 

shrink  from  dishonor  ;  will  they  call  me  father  ?  What  is 
life  to  me,  after  suffering  this  outrage  ?  Why  should  I  en- 
dure this  accumulated  wretchedness,  which  is  worse  than 
death,  rather  than  put  in  hazard  the  life  of  my  enemy  ? 

Ask  yourselves  whether  you  would  not  make  use  of  any 
weapon  that  might  be  within  your  power  to  repel  the  injury  ; 
and  if  it  should  happen  to  be  a  pistol,  might  you  not,  with 
sincere  feelings  of  piety,  call  on  the  Father  of  Mercies  to 
direct  the  stroke. 

While  we  reverence  the  precepts  of  Christianit}-,  let  us 
not  make  them  void  by  impracticable  construction.  They 
cannot  be  set  in  opposition  to  the  law  of  our  nature  ;  they 
are  a  second  edition  of  that  law  ;  they  both  proceed  from  the 
same  author. 

Gentlemen,  all  that  is  dear  to  the  defendant,  in  his  future 
life,  is  by  the  law  of  his  country  placed  in  your  power.  He 
cheerfully  leaves  it  there.  Hitherto  he  has  suffered  all  that 
his  duty  as  a  good  citizen  required,  with  fortitude  and  pa- 
tience  ;  and  if  more  be  yet  in  store  for  him,  he  will  exhibit 
to  his  accusers  an  example  of  patient  submission  to  the  laws. 
Yet  permit  me  to  say,  in  concluding  his  defence,  that  he 
feels  full  confidence  that  your  verdict  will  terminate  his 
sufferings. 


KXTRACT    FROM    AN  ARGUMENT, 

MADE  DURING  THE  TRIAL  OF  JAMES  PRESCOTT,  BEFORE 
THE    SENATE    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

BY  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

The  fate  of  the  Respondent  is  in  your  hands.  It  is  for 
you  now  to  say,  whether,  from  the  law  and  the  facts  as  they 
have  appeared  before  you,  you  will  proceed  to  disgrace  and 
disfranchise  him.  If  your  duty  calls  on  you  to  convict  him, 
convict  him,  and  let  justice  bs  done  !  but  I  adjure  you  let  it 
be  a  clear  undoubted  case.  Let  it  be  so  for  his  sake, 
for  you  arc  robbing  him  of  that,  for  which,  with  all 
your  high  powers,  you  can  yield  him  no  compensation  ;  let 
it  be  so  for  your  own  sakes,  for  tho  responsibility  of  this  day's 
judgment  is  one,  which  you  must  carry  with  you  through 
vour  life.  For  myself,  I  am  willing  here  to  relinquish  the 
character  of  an  advocate,  and  to  express  opinions  by  which 
I  am  willing  to  be  bound,  as  a  citizen  of  the  community. 
And  I  say  upon  my  honor  and  conscience,  that  I  see  not 
how,  with  the  law  and  constitution  for  your  guides,  you  can 
pronounce  the  Respondent  guilty.  I  declare,  that  I  have 
seen  no  cas3  of  wilful  and  corrupt  official  misconduct,  set 
forth  according  to  the  requisition  of  the  constitution,  and 
proved  according  to  the  common  rules  of  evidence.  I  see  many 
tilings  imprudent  and  ill  judged  ;  many  things  that  I  could 
w  ish  had  been  otherwise  ;  but  corruption  and  crime  I  do  not 
see.  Sir,  the  prejudices  of  the  day  will  soon  be  forgotten  ; 
the  passions,  if  any  there  be,  which  have  excited  or  favored 


316  Webster's  argument  in 

this  prosecution,  will  subside ;  but  the  consequence  of  the 
judgment  you  are  about  to  render  will  outlive  both  them  and 
you.  The  Respondent  is  now  brought,  a  single  unprotected 
individual,  to  this  formidable  bar  of  judgment,  to  stand  against 
the  power  and  authority  of  the  State.  I  know  you  can 
crush  him,  as  he  stands  before  you,  and  clothed  as  you  are 
with  the  sovereignty  of  the  State.  You  have  the  power 
"  to  change  his  countenance,  and  to  send  him  away." — Nor 
do  I  remind  you  that  your  judgment  is  to  be  rejudged  by 
the  community  ;  and  as  you  have  summoned  him  for  trial 
to  this  high  tribunal,  you  are  soon  to  descend  yourselves 
from  these  seats  of  justice,  and  stand  before  the  higher  tri- 
bunal of  the  world.  I  would  not  fail  so  much  in  respect  to 
this  Hon.  Court,  as  to  hint  that  it  could  pronounce  a  sen- 
tence, which  the  community  will  reverse.  No  sir,  it  is  not 
the  world's  revision,  which  I  would  call  on  you  to  regard  ;  but 
that  of  your  own  consciences  when  years  have  gone  by,  and 
you  shall  look  back  on  the  sentence  you  are  about  to  render. 
If  you  send  away  the  Respondent,  condemned  and  sentenced, 
from  your  bar,  you  are  yet  to  meet  him  in  the  world,  on 
which  you  cast  him  out. — You  will  be  called  to  behold  him 
a  disgrace  to  his  family,  a  sorrow  and  a  shame  to  his  chil- 
dren, a  living  fountain  of  grief  and  agony  to  himself. 

If  you  shall  then  be  able  to  behold  him  only  as  an  unjust 
judge,  whom  vengeance  has  overtaken,  and  justice  has  blasted, 
you  will  be  able  to  look  upon  him,  not  without  pity,  but  yet 
without  remorse.  But,  if,  on  the  other  hand,  you  shall  see, 
whenever  and  wherever  you  meet  him,  a  victim  of  prejudice 
or  of  passion,  a  sacrifice  to  a  transient  excitement ;  if  you 
shall  see  in  him,  a  man,  for  whose  condemnation  any  pro- 
vision of  the  constitution  has  been  violated,  or  any  principle 
of  law  broken  down  ;  then  will  he  be  able — humble  and  low 
as  may  be  his  condition — then  will  he  be  able  to  turn  the 
current  of  compassion  backward,  and  to  look  with  pity  on 
those  who  have  been  his  judges.  If  you  are  about  to  visit 
this  Respondent  with  a  judgment  which  shall  blast  his  house  ; 


THE    TRIAL    OF    I'RESCOTT.  317 

if  tlic  bosoms  of  the  innocent  and  the  amiable  are  to  be  made 
to  bleed  under  your  infliction,  I  beseech  you  to  be  able  to 
state  clear  and  strong  grounds  for  your  proceeding.  Preju- 
dice and  excitement  are  transitory,  and  will  pass  away.  Polit- 
ical expediency,  in  matters  of  judicature,  is  a  false  and  hol- 
low principle,  and  will  never  satisfy  the  conscience  of  him 
who  is  fearful  that  he  may  have  given  a  hasty  judgment, 
earnestly  entreat  you,  for  your  ov.n  sakes,  to  possess  your- 
selves of  solid  reasons,  founded  in  truth  and  justice,  for  the 
judgment  you  pronounce,  which  you  can  carry  with  you,  till 
you  go  down  into  your  graves  ;  reasons,  which  it  will  require 
no  argument  to  revive,  no  sophistry,  no  excitement,  no  re- 
gard to  popular  favor,  to  render  satisfactory  to  your. con- 
sciences ;  reasons  which  you  can  appeal  to,  in  every  crisis 
of  your  lives,  and  which  shall  be  able  to  assure  you,  in  your 
own  great  extremity,  that  you  have  not  judged  a  fellow  crea- 
ture without  mercy. 

Sir,  I  have  done  v,'ith  the  case  of  this  individual,  and  now 
leave  him  in  your  hands.  But  I  would  yet  once  more  ap- 
peal to  you  as  public  men  ;  as  statesman  ;  as  men  of  enlight- 
ened minds,  capable  of  a  large  view  of  things,  and  of  foresee- 
ing the  remote  consequences  of  important  transactions  ;  and, 
as  such,  I  would  most  earnestly  implore  you  to  consider  fully 
of  the  judgment  you  may  pronounce.  You  are  about  to  give 
a  construction  to  constitutional  provisions,  which  may  adhere 
to  that  instrument  for  ages,  either  for  good  or  evil.  I 
may  perhaps  overrate  the  importance  of  this  occasion  to  the 
public  welfare  ;  but  I  confess  it  does  appear  to  me  that  if 
this  body  give  its  sanction  to  some  of  the  principles  which 
have  been  advanced  on  this  occasion,  then  there  is  a  power  in 
thn  State  above  the  constitution  and  the  law  ;  a  power  essen- 
tially arbitrary  and  concentrated,  the  exercise  of  which  may 
be  most  dangerous.  If  impeachment  be  not  under  the  rule  of 
the  constitution  and  the  laws,  then  we  may  tremble,  not  only 
for  those  who  may  b3  impeached,  but  for  all  others.  If  the  full 

benefit  of  every  constitutional  provision  be  not  extended  to 

27* 


318  Webster's  ARGtrMENf. 

the  Respondent,  his  case  becomes  the  case  of  all  the  people 
of  the  Commonwealth.  The  constitution  is  their  constitu- 
tion. They  have  made  it  for  their  own  protection,  and  for 
his  among  the  rest.  They  are  not  eager  for  his  conviction. 
They  are  not  thirsting  for  his  blood.  If  he  be  condemned, 
without  having  his  offences  set  forth,  in  the  manner  which 
they,  by  their  constitution  have  prescribed  ;  and  proved,  in 
the  manner,  which  they,  by  their  laws  have  ordained,  then, 
not  only  is  he  condemned  unjustly,  but  the  rights  of  the  whole 
people  disregarded.  For  the  sake  of  the  people  themselves, 
therefore,  I  would  resist  all  attempts  to  convict  by  straining 
the  laws,  or  getting  over  their  prohibitions. — I  hold  up  be- 
fore him  the  broad  shield  of  the  constitution  ;  if  through  that 
he  be  pierced  and  fall,  he  will  be  but  one  sufferer,  in  a  com- 
mon catastrophe. 


EXTRACT  F1103I  A   DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  BENEVOLENT  FRATERNITY  OF 
CHURCHES  IN  BOSTON. 

BY  WILLIAM  E.  CHANNING. 

TiiERE  is  no  cultivation  of  the  human  being  worthy  of 
the  name,  but  that  which  begins  and  ends  with  the  Moral 
and  Religious  nature.  No  other  teaching  can  make  a  Man- 
We  arc  striving,  indeed,  to  develope  the  soul  almost  exclu- 
sively by  intellectual  stimulants  and  nutriment,  by  schools 
and  colleges,  by  accomplishments  and  fine  arts.  We  are 
hoping  to  form  men  and  women  by  literature  and  science  ; 
but  all  in  vain.  We  shall  learn  in  time,  that  moral  and  re- 
ligious  culture  is  the  foundation  and  strength  of  all  true 
cultivation  ;  that  we  are  deforming  human  nature  by  the 
means  relied  on  for  its  growth,  and  that  the  poor,  who  receive 
a  care  which  awakens  their  consciences  and  moral  senti- 
ments, start  under  happier  auspices  than  the  prosperous 
who  place  supreme  dependence  on  the  education  of  the 
intellect   and  the  taste. 

It  is  common  to  measure  the  cultivation  of  men  by  their 
knowledge  ;  and  this  is  certainly  an  important  element  and 
means  of  improvement.  But  knowledge  is  various,  difiering 
in  diflerent  men  according  to  the  objects  which  most  engage 
their  minds  ;  and  by  these  objects  its  worth  must  be  judged. 
It  is  not  the  extent,  but  the  Itlnd  of  knowledge,  which  deter- 
mines the  measure  of  cultivation.     In  truth,  it  is  fooUsh  to 


320  chanking's  discourse  on  the 

talk  of  any  knowledge  as  extensive.  The  most  eminent  phi- 
losopher is  of  yesterday,  and  knows  nothing.  Newton  felt 
that  ho  had  gathered  but  a  few  pebbles  on  the  shores  of  a 
boundless  ocean.  The  moment  we  attempt  to  penetrate  a 
subject,  we  learn  that  it  has  unfathomable  depths.  The 
known,  is  a  sign  of  the  infinite  unknov.n.  Every  discovery 
conducts  us  to  an  abyss  of  darkness.  In  every  thing  from 
a  grain  of  sand  to  the  stars,  the  Avisa  man  finds  mysteries, 
before  which  his  knowledjxe  shrinks  into  nothingness.  It  is 
the  kind,  not  the  extent  of  knowledge,  by  which  the  advance- 
ment  of  a  human  being  must  bo  measured ;  and  that  kind 
v>hich  alone  exalts  a  man,  is  placed  within  the  reach  of  all. 
Moral  and  Religious  Truth,  this  is  the  treasure  of  the  intel- 
lect, and  all  are  poor  without  it.  Tliis  transcends  physical 
truth,  as  far  as  mind  transcends  matter,  or  as  heaven  is  lift- 
ed above  earth.  Indeed  physical  science  parts  with  its 
chief  dignity,  when  separated  from  morals  ;  when  it  is  not 
used  to  shadow  forth,  confirm   and  illustrate  spiritual  truth. 

The  true  cultivation  of  a  human  being,  consists  in  the 
developement  of  great  moral  ideas ;  that  is,  the  Ideas  of 
God,  of  Duty,  of  Right,  of  Justice,  of  Love,  of  SelfrSacrifice, 
of  Moral  Perfection,  as  manifested  in  Christ,  of  Happiness, 
of  Immortality,  of  Heaven.  The  elements  or  germs  of  these 
Ideas,  belong  to  every  soul,  constitute  its  essence,  and  are 
intended  for  endless  expansion.  These  are  the  chief  distinc- 
tions of  our  nature  ;  "they  constitute  our  humanity.  To 
unfold  these,  is  the  great  work  of  our  being.  The  Light  in 
which  these  Ideas  rise  on  the  mind,  the  Love  which  they 
awaken,  and  the  Force  of  Will,  with  which  they  are  brought 
to  sway  the  outward  and  inward  life,  here,  and  here  only, 
are  the  measures  of  human  cultivation. 

These  views  show  us,  that  the  highest  culture  is  within 
the  reach  of  the  poor.  It  is  not  knowledge  poured  on  us 
from  abroad,  but  the  developement  of  the  elementary  princi- 
pies  of  the  soul  itself,  which  constitutes  the  true  growth  of  a 
human  being.     Undoubtedly,  knowledge  from  abroad  is  es- 


MIMSTRY    FOR    THE    I'OOK.  331 

sentiul  to  the  awakening  these  principles.  But  that,  which 
conduces  most  to  this  end,  is  offered  aUke  to  rich  and  poor. 
Society  and  Experience,  Nature  and  Revelation,  our  chief 
moral  and  religious  teachers,  and  the  great  quickeners  of  the 
soul,  do  not  open  their  schools  to  a  few  favorites — do  not 
initiate  a  small  caste  into  their  mysteries,  but  are  ordained 
by  tjod  to  be  lights  and  blessings  to  all. 

The  highest  culture,  I  repeat  it,  is  in  reach  of  the  poor, 
and  is  sometimes  attained  by  them.  Without  science,  they 
are  often  w^iser  than  the  pliilosopher.  The  astronomer  dis- 
dains them,  but  they  look  above  his  stars.  The  geologist 
disdains  them,  but  they  look  deeper  than  the  earth's  centre  ; 
they  penetrate  their  own  souls,  and  find  there  mightier, 
diviner  elements  than  upheaved  continents  attest.  In  other 
words,  the  great  ideas,  of  which  I  have  spoken  may  be,  and 
often  are,  unfolded  more  in  the  poor  man,  than  amongst  tho 
learned  or  renowned  ;  and  in  this  case  the  poor  man  is  the 
most  cultivated.  For  example,  take  the  Idea  of  Justice. 
Suppose  a  man,  eminent  for  acquisitions  of  knowledge,  but  in 
whom  this  idea  is  but  faintly  developed.  By  justice  he  un- 
derstands little  more  than  respect  for  the  rights  of  property. 
That  it  means  respect  for  all  the  rights,  and  especially  for  tho 
moral  claims,  of  every  human  being,  of  the  lowest  as  well  as 
most  exalted,  has  perhaps  never  entered  his  mind,  much  less 
been  expanded  and  invigorated  into  a  broad  living  convic- 
tion.  Take  now  the  case  of  a  poor  man,  to  whom,  under 
Christ's  teaching,  the  idea  of  the  Just  has  become  real,  clear, 
bright,  and  strong ;  who  recognises,  to  its  full  extent,  the 
right  of  property,  though  it  operates  against  himself;  but 
who  does  not  stop  here  ;  who  comprehends  the  higher  rights 
of  men  as  rational  and  moral  beings,  their  right  to  exercise 
and  unfuld  all  their  powers,  their  right  to  the  means  of  im- 
provement, their  right  to  search  for  truth  and  to  utter  their 
honest  convictions,  their  right  to  consult  first  the  monitor 
in  their  own  breasts  and  to  follow  wherever  it  leads,  their 
right  to  be  esteemed  and  honored  according  to  their  moral 


322  ciiajS->-i>-g's  discourse  on  the 

cfForls,  their  right,  when  injured,  to  sympathy  and  succor 
against  every  oppressor.  Suppose,  I  say,  the  poor  man  to 
rise  to  the  comprehension  of  this  enlarged  justice,  to  revere 
it,  to  enthrone  it  over  his  actions,  to  render  to  every  human 
being,  friend  or  foe,  near  or  far  off,  whatever  is  his  due,  to 
abstain  conscientiously,  not  only  from  injurious  deeds,  but 
from  injurious  thoughts,  judgments,  feelings,  and  words.  Is 
he  not  a  more  cultivated  man,  and  has  he  not  a  deeper  found- 
ation  and  surer  promise  of  ti'uth,  than  the  student,  who,  with 
much  outward  knowledge,  does  not  comprehend  men's  high- 
est rights,  whose  scientific  labors  are  perhaps  degraded  by 
injustice  towards  his  rivals,  who,  had  he  power,  would  fetter 
every  intellect,  which  threatens  to  outstrip  his  own  ? 

The  great  idea,  on  which  human  cultivation  especially 
depends,  is  that  of  God.  This  is  the  concentration  of  all 
that  is  beautiful,  glurious,  hoh-,  blessed.  It  transcends  im- 
measurably  in  worth  and  dignity  all  the  science  treasured  up 
in  Cyclopedias  or  libraries  ;  and  this  may  be  unfolded  in 
the  poor  as  truly  as  in  the  rich.  It  is  not  an  idea  to  be 
elaborated  by  studies,  which  can  be  pursued  only  in  leisure 
or  by  opulence.  Its  elements  belong  to  every  soul,  and  are 
especially  to  be  found  in  our  moral  nature,  in  the  idea  of  duty, 
in  the  feeling  of  reverence,  in  the  approving  sentence  which 
we  pass  on  virtue,  in  our  disinterested  affections,  and  in  the 
wants  and  aspirations  which  carry  us  towards  the  Infinite. 
There  is  but  one  Avay  of  unfolding  these  germs  of  the  idea  of 
God,  and  that  is,  faithfulness  to  the  best  convicticJns  of  duty 
and  of  the  Divine  Will,  which  we  have  hitherto  gained. 
God  is  to  be  known  by  obedience,  by  likeness,  by  sympathy, 
that  is,  by  moral  means,  which  are  open  alike  to  rich  and 
poor.  Many  a  man  of  science  has  not  known  him.  The 
pride  of  science,  lilce  a  thick  cloud,  has  hidden  from  the  phi- 
losopher the  Spiritual  Sun,  the  only  true  light,  and  for  want 
of  this  quickening  ray,  he  has  fallen  in  culture  far,  very  far, 
below  the  poor. 

These  remarks  have  been  drawn  from  me   by  the  prone- 


MINISTRY    FOR    THE     POOR.  323 

nessof  our  times  to  place  human  culture  in  physical  knowl- 
edge, and  especially  in  degrees  of  it  denied  to  the  mass  of 
the  people.  To  this  know  ledge  I  would  on  no  account  deny 
great  value.  In  its  place,  it  is  an  important  means  of  hu- 
man improvement.  I  look  with  admiration  on  the  intel- 
lectual force,  which  combines  and  masters  scattered  facts, 
and  by  analysis  and  comparison  ascends  to  the  general  laws 
of  the  material  universe.  But  the  philosopher,  who  does 
not  see  in  the  force  within  him  something  nobler  than  the 
Dutward  nature  which  he  analyzes,  who,  in  tracing  mechan- 
ical and  chemical  agencies,  is  unconscious  of  a  higher  ac- 
tion in  his  own  soul,  who  is  not  led  by  all  finite  powers 
to  the  Omnipotent,  and  who  does  not  catch,  in  the  order 
and  beauty  of  the  universe,  some  glimpses  of  Spiritual  Per- 
fection, stops  at  the  very  threshhold  of  the  temple  of  truth. 
Miserably  narrow  is  the  culture,  which  confines  the  soul  to 
Matter,  which  turns  it  to  the  Outward,  as  to  something  no- 
bier  than  itself.  I  fear,  the  spirit  of  science,  at  the  present 
day,  is  too  often  a  degradation,  rather  than  the  culture  of 
the  soul.  It  is  the  bowing  down  of  the  heaven-born  spirit 
before  unthinking  mechanism.  It  seeks  knowledge,  rather 
for  animal,  transitory  purposes,  than  for  the  nutriment  of 
the  imperishable  inward  life  ;  and  yet  the  worshippers  of 
science  pity  or  contemn  the  poor,  because  denied  this  means 
of  cultivation.  Unhappy  poor  !  shut  out  from  libraries,  labo- 
ratories, and  learned  institutes  !  In  view  of  this  world's  wis- 
dom,  it  avails  you  nothing,  that  your  own  nature,  manifested 
in  your  own  and  other  souls,  that  God's  word  and  works 
that  the  ocean,  earth  and  sky  are  laid  open  to  you  ;  that  you 
may  acquaint  yourselves  with  the  Divine  Perfections,  with 
the  character  of  Christ,  with  the  duties  of  life,  with  the  virtues, 
the  generous  sacrifices,  and  the  beautiful  and  holy  emotions, 
which  are  a  revelation  and  pledge  of  Heaven.  All  these  are 
nothing,  do  not  lift  you  to  the  rank  of  cultivated  men,  be- 
cause the  mysteries  of  the  telescope  and  micriscope,  of  the  air- 
pump  and  crucible,  are  not  revealed  to  you  !     I  would  they 


324  channing's  discourse. 

were  revealed  to  you.  I  believe  the  time  is  corning  when 
Christian  benevolence  will  delight  in  spreading  all  truth,  and 
all  refinements,  through  all  ranks  of  society.  But  mean- 
while  be  not  discouraged.  One  ray  of  moral  and  religious 
truth  is  worth  all  the  wisdom  of  the  schools.  One  lesson 
from  Christ  will  carry  you  higher,  than  years  of  study  under 
those,  who  are  too  enlightened  to  follow  this  celestial  guide. 
My  hearers,  do  not  contemn  the  poor  man  for  his  igno- 
rance. Has  he  seen  the  Right  ?  Has  he  felt  the  binding 
force  of  the  Everlasting  Moral  Law  ?  Has  the  beauty  of  vir- 
tue, in  any  of  its  forms,  been  revealed  to  him  ?  Then  he  has 
entered  the  highest  school  of  wisdom.  Then  a  light  has  dawn- 
ed within  him,  worth  all  the  physical  knowledge  of  all  worlds. 
It  almost  moves  me  to  indignation,  when  I  hear  the  student 
exalting  his  science,  which  at  every  step  meets  impenetra- 
ble darkness,  above  the  idea  of  Duty,  and  above  veneration 
for  goodness  and  God.  It  is  true,  and  ought  to  be  under- 
stood, that  outward  nature,  however  tortured,  probed,  dissect- 
ed, never  reveals  truths  so  sublime  or  precious,  as  are  wrapt 
up  in  the  consciousness  of  the  meanest  individual,  and  laid 
open  to  every  eye  in  the  word  of  Christ. 


SPEECH 

OF  MINAVAVANA, 

CHIEF    OF    THE    CHIPPEWA    INDIANS,    TO    AN    ENGLISH 

TRAVELLER. 

Englishman  ! — It  is  to  you  that  I  speak,  and  I  demand 
your  attention  ! 

Englishman ' — You  know  that  the  French  Kins;  is  our 
father.  He  promised  to  be  such  ;  and  we,  in  return,  prom- 
ised to  be  his  children.     This  promise  we  have  kept. 

Englishman  ! — It  is  you  that  have  made  war  with  this  our 
father.  You  are  his  enemy  ;  and  how  then  could  you  havo 
the  boldness  to  venture  among  us,  his  children  ?  You  know 
that  his  enemies  are  ours. 

Englishman  ! — We  are  informed  that  our  father,  the  king 
of  France,  is  old  and  infirm  ;  and  that  being  fatigued  with 
making  war  upon  your  nation,  he  is  fallen  asleep.  During 
his  sleep,  you  have  taken  advantage  of  him,  and  possessed 
yourselves  of  Canada.  But  his  nap  is  almost  at  an  end.  I 
think  I  hear  him  already  stirring,  and  inquiring  for  his  chil- 
dren  the  Indians; — and,  when  he  does  awake,  what  must  be- 
come of  you  ?  He  will  destroy  you  utterly  ! 

Englishman  ] — xVlthough  you  have  conquered  the  French, 
you  have  not  yet  conquered  us  !  We  are  not  your  slaves. 
These  lakes,  these  woods  and  mountains,  were  left  to  us  by 
our  ancestors.  They  are  our  inheritance,  and  we  will  part 
with  them  to  none.  Your  nation  supposes  that  we,  like  the 
white  people,  cannot  live  without  bread,  and  pork,  and  beef  ! 
But,  you  ought  to  know,  that  He, — the  Great  Spirit  and 
28 


326  MINAVAVANA  S  SPEECH. 

Master  of  Life, — ^has  provided  food  for  us,  in  these  broad 
lakes,  and  upon  these  mountains. 

Englishman ! — Our  father,  the  king  of  France,  employed 
our  young  men  to  make  war  upon  your  nation.  In  this 
warfare,  many  of  them  have  been  killed  ;  and  it  is  our  cus- 
tom to  retaliate,  until  such  time  as  the  spirits  of  the  slain 
are  satisfied.  Now  the  spirits  of  the  slain  are  to  be  satisfied 
in  either  of  two  ways.  The  first  is  by  the  spilling  of  the 
blood  of  the  nation  by  which  they  fell ;  the  other,  by  cover- 
ing the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  thus  allaying  the  resentment 
of  their  relations.     This  is  done  by  making  presents. 

Englishman  ! — Your  king  has  never  sent  us  any  presents, 
nor  entered  into  any  treaty  with  us.  Wherefore  he  and  we 
are  still  at  war ;  and  until  he  does  these  things,  we  must 
consider  that  we  have  no  other  father,  nor  friend,  among 
the  white  men,  than  the  king  of  France.  But,  for  you,  we 
have  taken  into  consideration,  that  you  have  ventured  your 
life  among  us,  in  the  expectation  that  we  should  not  molest 
you.  You  do  not  come  armed,  with  an  intention  to  make 
war.  You  come  in  peace,  to  trade  with  us,  and  supply  us 
with  necessaries,  of  which  we  are  much  in  want.  We  shall 
regard  you,  therefore,  as  a  brother  ;  and  you  may  sleep  tran- 
quilly, without  fear  of  the  Chippewas.  As  a  token  of  our 
friendship,  we  present  you  with  this  pipe,  to  smoke. 


/f' 


EXTRACT  FROM  A   SPEECH, 

DELIVERED  AT  A  TEMPERANCE  MEETING. 

BY  EDWARD  EVERETT. 

WuEN  we  contemplate  intemperance  in  all  its  boaringa 
and  efit'cts  on  the  condition  and  character  of  men,  I  believe 
we  shall  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  is  the  greatest  evil 
which,  as  beings  of  a  compound  nature,  we  have  to  fear  :  the 
greatest,  because  striking  directly  at  tlie  ultimate  principle  of 
the  Constitution.     Lot  us  contemplate  this  point  a  moment, 
for  within  it  is  comprehended,  if  I   mistake  not,  the   whole 
philosophy  of  this  subject.     Our  life  exists  in  a  mysterious 
union  of  the  corporeal  and  intellectual  principles,  an  alliance 
of  singular  intimacy,  as  well  as  of  strange  contrast,  between 
the  two   extremes  of  being.     In  their  due  relation   to  each 
other,  and  in  the  rightful  discharge  of  their  respective  func- 
tions, I  do  not  know  whether  the  pure  etherial  essence  itself, 
(at  least  as  far  as  we  can  comprehend  it,  which  is  but  faint- 
ly,) ought  more   to  excite  our   admiration  than    this  most 
wonderous  compound  of  spirit  and  matter.     I  do  not  know 
that  it  is  extravagant  to  say,  tliat  there  is  as  signal  a  dis- 
play of  the  Divine  skill  in  linking  those  intellectual  powers^ 
which  are  the  best  image  of  the  Divinity,  with   the  forms 
and  properties  of  matter,  as  in  the  creation   of  orders  of 
beings  purely  disembodied  and  spiritual.     When  I  contrast 
the  dull  and  senseless  clod  of  the  valley,   in  its  unanimated 
state,  with  the  curious  hand,  the  glowing  cheek,  the  beam, 
ing  eye,  the  discriminating  sense,   which  dwells  in  a  thou, 
sand   nerves,  I  feel  the  force  of  that  inspired  exclan^ation, 


S28  kverett's  sfkech  at 

*'I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made."  And  when  I  con- 
sider the  action  and  reaction  of  soul  and  body  on  each  other, 
the  impulse  given  to  volition  from  the  senses  ;  and  again  to 
the  organs  by  the  will ;  when  I  think  how  thoughts, — so  ex- 
alted, that,  though  they  comprehend  all  else,  they  cannot 
comprehend  the  laws  of  their  own  existence, — are  yet  able 
to  take  a  shape  in  the  material  air,  to  issue  and  travel  from 
one  sense  in  one  man  to  another  sense  in  another  man  ; — 
so  that,  as  the  words  drop  from  my  lips,  the  secret  chambers 
of  the  soul  are  thrown  open,  and  its  invisible  ideas  made 
manifest, — I  am  lost  in  wonder.  If  to  this  I  add  the  reflec- 
tion, how  the  world  and  its  affairs  are  governed,  the  face  of 
nature  changed,  oceans  crossed,  continents  settled,  families 
of  men  gathered  and  kept  together  for  generations,  and  mon- 
uments of  power,  wisdom,  and  taste  erected,  which  last  for 
ages  after  the  hands  that  reared  them  have  turned  to  dust, 
— and  all  this  by  the  regency  of  that  fine  intellectual  prin- 
ciple, which  sets  modestly  concealed  behind  its  veil  of  clay, 
and  moves  its  subject  organs,  I  find  no  words  to  express  my 
admiration  of  that  union  of  mind  and  matter,  by  which  these 
miracles  are  wrought.  Who  can  thus  contemplate  the  won- 
der, the  beauty,  the  vast  utility,  the  benevolence,  the  indis- 
cribable  fitness,  of  this  organization,  and  not  feel  that  this 
vice  of  intemperance,  which  aims  directly  to  destroy  it,  is 
the  arch-abomination  of  our  natures  ;  tending  not  merely  to 
create  a  conflict  between  the  nicely  adjusted  principles  ;  but 
to  assure  the  triumph  of  that  which  is  low,  base,  sensual  and 
earthly  over  the  heavenly  and  pure  ;  to  convert  this  so  cu- 
riously organized  frame  into  a  disordered  crazy  machine, 
and  to  drag  down  the  soul  to  the  slavery  of  groveling  lusts  ? 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  shameful  abuse  of  tho 
bounties  of  Providence,  which,  after  making  the  substantial 
provision  for  the  supply  of  our  daily  wants, — after  spread- 
ing out  the  earth,  with  its  vegetable  stores,  as  a  great 
table  for  our  nutriment,  and  appointing  the  inferior  animals 
for  our  solid  food,  was  pleased, — as  it  would  seem  of  mere 


A    TEMPERANCE    MEETIXG.  329 

grace  and  favor, — to  ackl  unniunbered  cordial  spirits  to 
gratify  and  cheer  us, — sweet  waters  and  lively  spices, — to 
fill  the  fibres  of  the  cane  with  its  luscious  syrups,  the  clus- 
ters of  the  vine  witii  its  cooling  juices,  and  a  hundred 
aromatic  leaves,  berries  and  fruits,  with  their  refreshing 
and  reviving  essences  ; — and  even  to  infuse  into  the  poppy 
an  anodyne  against  the  sharpest  pains  our  trail  Hcsh  is 
heir  to ; — I  say  it  is  the  first  aggravation  of  the  sin  of 
intetupcrance,  that  it  seizes  on  all  these  kind  and  boun- 
tiful provisions,  turns  them  into  a  source  not  of  comfort 
and  health,  but  of  excess, — indecently  revelling  at  the 
modest  banquet  of  nature,  shamefully  surfeiting  at  the 
sober  table  of  Providence,  and  converting  every  thing 
that  has  a  Ufe  and  power,  alike  the  exhilirating  and  the 
soothing,  the  stimulant  and  the  opiate,  into  one  accursed 
poison. 

Next  comes  the  ravages  of  this  all-destroying  vice  on  the 
health  of  its  victims.  You  see  them  resolved,  as  it  were,  to 
anticipate  the  corruption  of  their  natures.  They  cannot 
wait  to  get  sick  and  die.  They  think  the  worm  is  slow  in 
his  approach,  and  sluggish  at  his  work.  They  wish  to  re- 
convert the  dust  before  their  hour  comes,  to  its  primitive 
deformity  and  pollution.  My  friend  who  spoke  before  me, 
(Dr.  Pierson,)  called  it  a  partial  death.  I  would  rather  call 
it  a  double  death,  by  which  they  drag  about  with  them,  above 
the  grave,  a  mass  of  diseased,  decaying,  aching  clay.  They 
will  not  only  commit  suicide,  but  do  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
be  the  witnesses  and  conscious  victims  of  the  cruel  process 
of  self-murder ;  doing  it  by  degrees,  by  inches ;  quenching 
the  sight,  benumbing  the  brain,  laying  down  the  arm  of 
industry  to  be  cut  otf;  and  changing  a  fair,  healthy,  robust 
frame,  for  a  shrinking,  sufl'ering,  hving  corpse,  witli  notliing 
of  vitality  but  the  power  of  suffering,  and  with  every  thing 
of  death  but  its  peace. 

Then  follows  the  wreck  of  property, — the  great  object  of 
human  pursuit ;  the  temporal  ruin,  which  comes,  Uke  an 
28* 


330  Everett's  speech  At 

avenging  angel,  to  waste  the  substance  of  the  intemperate  { 
which  crosses  their  threshold  commissioned,  as  it  were,  to 
plague  them  with  all  the  horrors  of  a  ruined  fortune  and 
blasted  prospect ;  and  passes  before  their  astonished  sight, 
in  the  dread  array  of  affairs  perplexed,  debts  accumulated^ 
substance  squandered,  honor  tainted, — wife,  children,  cast 
out  upon  the  mercy  of  the  world, — and  he,  who  should 
have  been  their  guardian  and  protector,  dependent  for  his 
unearned  daily  bread,  on  those  to  whom  he  is  a  burden  and 
a  curse. 

Bad  as  all  this  is,  much  as  it  is,  it  is  neither  the  greatest 
nor  the  worst  part  of  the  aggravations  of  the  crime  of  in- 
temperance. It  produces  consequences  of  still  more  awful 
moment.  It  first  exasperates  the  passions,  and  then  takes 
off  from  them  the  restraints  of  the  reason  and  will ;  maddens 
and  then  unchains  the  tiger,  ravening  for  blood ;  tramples 
all  the  intellectual  and  moral  man  under  the  feet  of  the  stim- 
ulated clay  ;  lays  the  understanding,  the  kind  affections, 
and  the  conscience,  in  the  same  grave  with  prosperity  and 
health  ;  and,  having  killed  the  body,  kills  the  soul ! 

Such,  faintly  described,  is  the  vice  of  intemperance. 
Such  it  still  exists  in  our  land ;  checked,  and,  as  we  hope^ 
declining,  but  still  prevailing  to  a  degree  which  invites  all 
our  zeal  for  its  effectual  suppression.  Such  as  I  have  de- 
scribed it,  exists,  I  fear,  in  every  city,  in  every  town,  in 
every  village  in  our  country.  Such  and  so  formidable  is 
its  power.  But  I  rejoice  in  the  belief,  that  an  antagonist 
principle  of  equal  power  has  been  brought  into  the  field. 
Public  opinion,  in  all  its  strength,  is  enlisted  against  it.- 
Men,  that  agree  in  nothing  else,  unite  in  this.  Rehgious 
divisions  are  healed,  and  party  feuds  forgotten,  in  this  good 
6ause.  Individuals  and  societies,  private  citizens  and  the 
government,  have  joined,  in  waging  war  against  intemper- 
ance ;  and  above  all,  the  Press, — the  great  engine  of  re- 
form,— is  thundering  with  all  its  artillery  against  it.  It  is  a 
moment  of  great  interest ;  and  also  of  considerable  delicacy <» 


A    TEMPERANCE    MEETING,  331 

That  period  in  a  moral  reform,  in  which  a  great  evil,  that 
has  long  passed  comparatively  unquestioned,  is  overtaken 
bra  sudden  bound  of  Public  Opinion,  is  somewhat  critical. 
Individuals,  as  honest  as  their  neighbors,  are  surprised  in 
pursuits  and  practices,  sanctioned  by  the  former  standard  of 
moral  sentiment,  but  below  the  mark  of  the  reform.  Ten- 
derness and  delicacy  arc  necessary,  to  prevent  such  persons, 
by  mistaken  pride  of  character,  from  being  made  enemies  of 
the  cause.  In  our  denunciations  of  the  evil,  we  must  take 
care  not  to  include  those,  whom  a  little  prudence  might 
bring  into  cordial  co-operation  with  us  in  its  suppression. 
Let  us,  sir,  mingle  discretion  with  our  zeal ;  and  the  greater 
will  be  our  success  in  this  pure  and  noble  cause. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  PROCLAMATION, 

AFTER    THE    PASSING   OP    AN    ORDINANCE    BY   THE 
SOUTH    CAROLINA    CONVENTION. 

BY  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

This,  then,  is  the  position  in  which  we  stand.  A  small  ma- 
jority of  the  citizens  of  one  State  in  the  Union  have  elected 
Delegates  to  a  State  Convention  :  that  Convention  has  or- 
dained  that  all  the  revenue  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be 
repealed,  or  that  they  are  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Union. 
The  Governor  of  that  State  has  recommended  to  the  legislature 
the  raising  of  an  army  to  carry  the  secession  into  etfect,  and 
that  he  may  be  empowered  to  give  clearances  to  vessels  in 
the  name  of  the  State.  No  act  of  violent  opposition  to  the 
laws  has  yet  been  committed,  but  such  a  state  of  things  ia 
hourly  apprehended,  and  it  is  the  intent  of  this  instrument 
to  PROCLAIM  not  only  that  the  duty  imposed  on  me  by  the 
constitution  "  to  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  exe- 
cuted," shall  be  performed  to  the  extent  of  the  powers  already 
vested  in  me  by  law,  or  of  such  others  as  the  wisdom  of  congress 
shall  devise  and  entrust  to  me  for  that  purpose ;  but  to  warn 
the  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  who  have  been  deluded  into 
an  opposition  to  the  laws,  of  the  danger  they  will  incur  by 
obedience  to  the  illegal  and  disorganizing  Ordinance  of  the 
Convention, — to  exhort  those  who  have  refused  to  support 
it  to  persevere  in  their  determination  to  uphold  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  of  their  country,  and  to  point  out  to  all  the 
perilous  situation  into  which  the  good  people  of  that  State 
have  been  led, — and  that  the  course  they  are  urged  to  pur- 


JACKSO^'a    PROCLAMATIOX.    .  333 

sue  is  one  of  ruin  and  disgrace  to  the  very  State  whose  righta 
they  affect  to  support. 

Fellow-citizens  of  my  native  State  ! — let  me  not  only  ad- 
monish  you,  as  the  first  Magistrate  of  our  common  country, 
not  to  incur  the  penalty  of  its  laws,  but  to  use  the  influence 
that  a  father  would  over  his  children  whom  he  saw  rushincr 
to  certain  ruin.  In  that  paternal  language,  with  tliat  pater- 
nal feeling,  let  me  tell  you,  my  countrymen,  that  you  are 
deluded  by  men  who  are  cither  deceived  themselves,  or  wish 
to  deceive  you.  Mark  under  what  pretences  you  have  been 
led  on  to  the  brink  of  insurrection  and  treason,  on  which 
you  stand  !  First  a  diminution  of  the  value  of  your  staple 
commodity,  lowered  by  over  production  in  other  quarters, 
and  the  consequent  diminution  in  the  value  of  your  lands, 
were  the  sole  effect  of  the  tariff  laws.  The  effect  of  those 
laws  are  confessedly  injurious,  but  tho  evil  was  greatly  exag- 
gerated by  the  unfounded  theory  you  were  taught  to  believe, 
that  its  burthens  were  in  proportion  to  your  exports,  not  to 
your  consumption  of  imported  articles.  Your  pride  was 
roused  by  tho  assertion  that  a  submission  to  those  laws  was 
a  state  of  vassalage,  and  that  resistance  to  them  was  equal, 
in  patriotic  merit,  to  tho  opposition  our  fathers  offered  to 
the  oppressive  laws  of  Great-Britain.  You  were  told  that 
this  opposition  might  be  peaceably — might  be  constitutionally 
made — that  you  might  enjoy  all  tho  advantages  of  the  Union 
and  boar  none  of  its  burtlicns. 

Eloquent  appeals  to  your  passions,  to  your  state  pride,  to 
your  native  courage,  to  your  sense  of  real  injury,  were  used 
to  prepare  you  for  the  period  when  the  mask  which  concealed 
tho  hideous  features  of  disunion'  should  be  taken  off.  It  fell, 
and  you  were  made  to  look  with  complacency  on  objects 
which,  not  long  since,  you  would  have  regarded  with  horror. 
Look  back  to  the  arts  which  have  brought  you  to  this  state 
— look  forward  to  tho  consequences  to  which  it  must  inevit. 
ably  lead ! — Look  back  to  what  was  first  told  you  as  an  in. 
duccmcnt  to  enter  into  this  danjierous  course.     The  "reat 


834  Jackson's  proclamation, 

political  truth  was  repeated  to  you,  that  you  had  the  revolu- 
tionary right  of  resisting  all  laws  that  were  palpably  uncon- 
stitutional  and  intolerably  oppressive — it  was  added  that 
the  right  to  nullify  a  law  rested  on  the  same  principle, 
but  that  it  was  a  peaceable  remedy  !  This  character  which 
was  given  to  it,  made  you  receive  with  too  much  confidence, 
the  assertions  that  were  made  of  the  unconstitutionality  of 
the  law,  and  its  oppressive  effects.  Mark,  my  fellow-citizens, 
that,  by  the  admission  of  your  leaders,  the  unconstitutionality 
must  be  palpable,  or  it  will  not  justify  either  resistance  or 
nullification  !  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  palpable,  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used  ?  that  which  is  apparent 
to  every  one  ;  that  which  no  man  of  ordinary  intellect  will 
fail  to  perceive.  Is  the  unconstitutionality  of  these  laws  of 
that  description  ?  Let  those  among  your  leaders  who  once 
approved  and  advocated  the  principle  of  protective  duties, 
answer  the  question  ;  and  let  them  choose  whether  they  will 
be  considered  as  incapable,  then,  of  perceiving  that  which 
must  have  been  apparent  to  every  man  of  common  under- 
standing, or  as  imposing  upon  your  confidence,  and  endeav- 
oring to  mislead  you  now.  In  either  case,  they  are  unsafe 
guides  in  the  perilous  path  thoy  urge  you  to  tread.  Ponder 
well  on  this  circumstance,  and  you  will  know  how  to  appre- 
ciate  the  exaggerated  language  they  address  to  you.  They 
are  not  champions  of  liberty,  emulating  the  fame  of  our 
Revolutionary  Fathers ;  nor  are  you  an  oppressed  people 
contending,  as  they  repeat  to  you,  against  worse  than  colo- 
nial vassalage.  You  are  free  members  of  a  flourishing 
and  happy  Union.  There  is  no  settled  design  to  oppress  you. 
You  have  indeed  felt  the  unequal  operation  of  laws  which 
may  have  been  unwisely,  not  unconstitutionally  passed  ;  but 
that  inequality  must  necessarily  be  removed.  At  the  very 
moment  when  you  were  madly  urged  on  to  the  unfortunate 
course  you  have  begun,  a  change  in  public  opinion  had 
commenced.  The  nearly  approaching  payment  of  the  pub- 
lic debt,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  a  diminution  of 


ON    XULUFICATIOjr.  335 

duties,  had  already  produced  a  considerable  reduction,  and 
that  too  on  some  articles  of  general  consumption  in  your 
State.  The  importance  of  this  change  was  understood,  and 
you  were  authoritatively  told,  that  no  further  alleviation  of 
your  burthens  was  to  be  expected,  at  the  very  time  when 
the  condition  of  the  country  imperiously  demanded  such  a 
modification  of  the  duties  as  should  reduce  them  to  a  just 
and  equitable  scale.  But,  as  if  appprehensive  of  the  effect 
of  this  change  in  allaying  your  discontents,  you  were  pre- 
cipitated into  the  fearful  state  in  which  you  now  find  your- 
selves. 

1  have  urged  you  to  look  back  to  the  means  that  were 
used  to  hurry  you  on  to  the  position  you  have  now  assumed, 
and  forward  to  the  consequences  it  will  produce.  Something 
more  is  necessary.  Contemplate  the  condition  of  that  coun- 
try of  which  you  still  form  an  important  part  ?  Consider 
its  government,  uniting  in  one  bond  of  common  interest  and 
general  protection  so  many  different  States,  giving  to  afl 
their  inhabitants  the  proud  title  of  American  Citizens, 
protecting  their  commerce,  securing  their  literature  and 
their  arts,  facilitating  their  intcr-commuiiication,  defending 
their  frontiers,  and  making  their  name  respected  in  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  earth  !  Consider  the  extent  of  its 
territory,  its  increasing  and  happy  population,  its  advance 
in  arts  which  render  life  agreeable  and  the  sciences  which 
elevate  the  mind  !  See  education  spreading  the  lights  of  re- 
ligion, humanity,  and  general  information  into  every  cottage 
in  this  wide  extent  of  our  Territories  and  States  !  Behold 
it  as  the  asylum  where  the  wretched  and  the  oppressed  find 
a  refuge  and  support !  Look  on  this  picture  of  happiness 
and  honor,  and  say — we,  too,  are  citizens  of  America  : 
Carolina  is  one  of  these  proud  States  :  her  arms  have  de- 
fended, her  best  blood  has  cemented  this  happy  Union  !  And 
then  add,  if  you  can,  without  liorror  and  remorse,  this  happy 
Union  we  w  ill  dissolve — this  picture  of  peace  and  prosperity 
we  will  deface — this    free  intercourse  we  will  interrupt — 


336  Jackson's  proclamation, 

these  fertile  fields  we  will  deluge  with  blood — the  protection  of 
that  glorious  flag  we  renounce — the  very  names  of  Ameri- 
cans  we  discard.  And  for  what,  mistaken  men ! — for  what 
do  you  throw  away  these  inestimable  blessings,  for  what 
would  you  exchange  your  share  in  the  advantages  and  honor 
of  the  Union  ?  For  the  dream  of  a  separate  independence — 
a  dream  interrupted  by  bloody  conflicts  with  your  neighbors, 
and  a  vile  dependence  on  a  foreign  power.  If  your  leaders 
could  succed  in  establishing  a  separation,  what  would  be 
your  situation  ?  Are  you  united  at  home — are  you  free 
from  the  apprehension  of  civil  discord,  with  all  its  fearful 
consequences  ?  Do  our  neighboring  republics,  every  day 
suffering  some  new  revolution,  or  contending  with  some  new 
insurrection — do  they  excite  your  envy  ?  But  the  dictates  of 
a  high  duty  oblige  me  solemnly  to  announce  that  you  can- 
not succeed. 

The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be  executed.  I  have 
no  discretionary  power  on  the  subject — my  duty  is  emphat- 
ically  pronounced  in  the  Constitution.  Those  who  told  you 
that  you  might  peaceably  prevent  their  execution,  deceived 
you — they  could  not  have  been  deceived  themselves.  They 
know  that  a  forcible  opposition  could  alone  prevent  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws,  and  they  know  that  such  opposition 
must  be  repelled.  Their  object  is  disunion  ;  but  be  not  de- 
ceived by  names  ;  disunion  by  armed  force,  is  treason. 
Are  you  really  ready  to  incur  its  guilt  ?  If  you  are,  on  the 
heads  of  the  instigators  of  the  act  be  the  dreadful  conse- 
quences— on  their  heads  be  the  dishonor,  but  on  yours  may 
fall  the  punishment — on  your  unhappy  state  will  inevitably 
fall  all  the  evils  of  the  conflict  you  force  upon  the  Govern- 
ment of  your  country.  It  cannot  accede  to  the  mad  project 
of  disunion  of  which  you  would  be  the  first  victims — its  first 
magistrate  cannot,  if  he  would,  avoid  the  performance  of  his 
duty — the  consequences  must  be  fearful  for  you,  distressing 
to  your  fellow-citizens  here,  and  to  the  friends  of  good  go- 
vernment throughout  the  world.     Its  enemies  have  beheld 


ON   NULLIFICATION.  337 

our  prosperity  with  a  vexation  they  could  not  conceal  it- 
was   a  standing  refutation   of  their  slavish   doctrines,  and 
they  will  point  to  our  discord  with  the  triumph  of  malignant 
joy.     It  is  yet  in  your  power  to  disappoint  them.     There  is 
yet  time  to  show  that  the  descendants  of  the  Pinckneys,  the 
Sumpters,  the  Rutledges  ;  and  of  the  thousand  other  names 
which  adorn  the  pages  of  your  revolutionary  history,  will  not 
abandon  that    union    to  support  which,   so  many  of  them 
fought,  and  bled,  and  died,     I  adjure  you  as  you  honor  their 
memory — as  you   love  the  cause  of  freedom,  to  which  they 
dedicated  their  lives — as  you  prize  the  peace  of  your  coun- 
try, the  lives  of  its  best  citizens,  and  your  own  fair  fame,  to 
retrace    your  steps.      Snatch    from  the   archives  of  your 
State   the  disorganizing  edict  of  its    Convention — bid  its 
members  to  re-assemble  and  promulgate  the  decided  expres- 
sions of  your  will   to  remain  in  the  path  which  alone    can 
conduct  you  to  safety,  prosperity,  and  honor — tell  them  that 
compared  to  disunion,  all  other  evils  are  light,  because  that 
brings  with  it  an  accumulation  of  all — declare  that  you  will 
never  take  the  field  unless  the  star-spangled  banner  of  your 
country  shall  float  over  you — that  you   will  not  be  stigma- 
tized  when  dead,  and  dishonored  and  scorned  while  you  live , 
as  the  authors  of  the  first  attack  on  the  Constitution  of  your 
country  ! — Its  destroyers  you  cannot  be.     You  may  disturb 
its  peace — you  may  interrupt  the  course  of  its  prosperity — 
you  may  cloud  its  reputation  for  stability — but  its  tranquil- 
ity will  be  restored,  its  prosperity  will  return,  and  the  stain 
upon  its  national  character  will  be  transferred,  and   remain 
an  eternal  blot  on  the  memory  of  those  who  caused  the  dis- 
order. 

Fellow-citizens  of  the  United  States  !  The  threat  of  un- 
hallowed disunion — the  names  of  those,  once  res|iected,  by 
whom  it  is  uttered — the  array  of  military  force  to  support 
it — denote  the  approach  of  a  crisis  in  our  affairs  on  which 
the  continuance  of  our  unexampled  prosperity,  our  political 

existence,  and  perhaps  that  of  all  free  governments  may  de« 
29 


338  Jackson's  pkoclamatioit. 

pend.  The  conjunction  demanded  a  free,  a  full,  and  explicit 
enunciation  not  only  of  my  intentions  but  of  my  principles 
of  action  ;  and  as  the  claim  was  asserted  of  a  right  by  a 
State  to  annul  the  laws  of  the  Union  and  even  to  secede 
from  it  at  pleasure,  a  frank  exposition  of  my  opinions  in  re- 
lation to  the  origin  and  form  of  our  government,  and  the 
construction  I  give  to  the  instrument  by  which  it  was 
created,  seemed  to  be  proper.  Having  the  fullest  confidence 
in  the  justness  of  the  legal  and  constitutional  opinion  of  my 
duties  which  has  been  expressed,  I  rely  with  equal  confidence 
on  your  undivided  support  in  my  determination  to  execute 
the  laws — to  preserve  the  Union  by  all  constitutional  means 
• — to  arrest,  if  possible,  by  moderate  but  firm  measures,  the 
necessity  of  a  recourse  to  force  ;  and,  if  it  be  the  will  of 
Heaven  that  the  recurrence  of  its  primeval  curse  (m  man 
for  the  shedding  of  a  brother's  blood  should  fall  upon  our 
land,  that  it  be  not  called  down  by  any  offensive  act  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States. 

Fellow-citizens  !  The  momentous  case  is  before  you.  On 
your  undivided  support  of  your  government  depends  the  de- 
cision of  the  great  question  it  involves,  whether  your  sacred 
Union  will  be  preserved,  and  the  blessings  it  secures  to  us 
as  one  People  shall  be  perpetuated.  No  one  can  doubt  that 
the  unanimity  with  which  that  decision  will  be  expressed, 
will  be  such  as  to  inspire  new  confidence  in  republican  in- 
stitutions,  and  that  the  prudence,  the  wisdom,  and  the  cour- 
age with  which  it  will  bring  to  their  defence,  will  transmit 
them  unimpaired  and  invigorated  to  our  children. 

May  the  Great  Ruler  of  Nations  grant  that  the  signal 
blessings  with  which  he  has  favored  ours,  may  not,  by  the 
madness  of  party  or  personal  ambition,  be  disregarded  and 
lost ;  and  may  His  wise  Providence  bring  those  who  have 
produced  this  crisis,  to  see  the  folly  before  they  feel  the 
misery  of  civil  strife  :  and  inspire  a  returning  veneration 
for  that  Union  which,  if  we  may  dare  to  penetrate  His  de- 
sio-ns,  he  has  chosen  as  the  only  means  of  attaining  the  high 
destinies  to  which  we  may  reasonably  aspire. 


EXTRACT   FR03I  A    SPEECH, 

ON  THE  PANAMA  MISSION. 
BY  MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 

BiTT  I  cannot  consent  to  trespass  longer  upon  the  time  of 
the  Senate  in  pushing  the  discussion  of  this  point  further, 
although  various  considerations,  operating  against  the  niea- 
sure,  press  upon  my  mind.  If  it  were  proposed  to  form  a 
connection  with  any  European  power,  such  as  now  design- 
ed with  the  Spanish  American  States,  it  is  hoped  and  be- 
lieved, that  the  measure  would  not  meet  with  one  approv- 
ing  voice — shall  I  sny — on  this  floor?  No,  not  inthecoun- 
try.  But  it  has  been  supposed  that  the  United  States  ought 
to  pursue  a  different  policy  with  respect  to  the  states  in  this 
hemisphere.  It  is  true,  Mr.  Monroe,  in  his  message,  makes 
a  distinction  of  this  character,  although  he  by  no  means  car- 
ries it  to  the  extent  proposed.  If  he  did,  all  that  the  dis- 
tinction could  derive  from  that  circumstance,  would  be,  the 
weight  of  his  opinion,  always  considerable,  but  never  deci- 
sive. The  question  still  recurs,  is  the  distinction  founded  in 
principle  and  policy  ?  If  it  be,  it  must  arise  from  one  of  two 
reasons :  either  the  character  of  the  governments  of  the 
Spanish  American  states,  or  their  local  situation;  or,  per- 
haps, from  both.  The  United  States  have  hailed  the  eman- 
cipation of  those  states  with  satisfaction;  they  have  our 
best  wishes  for  the  perpetuity  of  their  freedom.  So  far  as 
we  could  go  to  aid  them  in  the  establishment  of  their  inde- 
pendence, without  endangering  the  peace,  or  embarrassing 
the  relation  of  our  country,  we  have  gone.     More  than  that. 


340  VAN  buren's  speech  on 

ought  not  to  be  asked.  Nor  has  it.  Sensible  of  the  embar- 
rassments which  their  invitation  might  produce,  they  de- 
clined to  proffer  it  until  advised  that  we  desired  to  receive 
it.  Next  to  being  right,  it  is  important  to  governments,  as 
well  as  individuals,  to  be  consistent.  Has  the  character  of 
these  governments  been  the  principle  upon  which  we  have 
hitherto  acted  in  relation  to  those  states  ?  It  has  not. 
Mexico  and  Brazil  were  the  last  to  shake  off  their  depend- 
ence on  foreign  authority.  They  were  among  the  first 
whose  independence  we  acknowledged.  Mexico  was,  at  the 
period  of  its  acknowledgement,  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Emperor  Iturbide,  and  Brazil  of  its  Emperor,  Don  Pedro. 
As  a  special  compliment  to  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  we  sent, 
or  rather  intended  to  send,  to  his  Court,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  nation,  (Gen.  Jackson.)  At  the  court  of 
the  Emperor  Don  Pedro,  we  have  our  Minister  ;  whilst  in  the 
republic  of  Peru — the  power  with  which  the  first  of  the  trea- 
ties, in  virtue  of  which  the  Congress  of  Panama  is  to  be  held, 
was  concluded — we  have  not  yet  been  represented.  Do  our 
principles  admit  that  we  should  adopt  the  measures  proposed 
with  such  reference,  and  upon  such  grounds  ?  What  are  those 
principles?  That  man  is  capable  of  self-government  ;  that 
the  people  of  every  country  should  bo  left  to  the  free  selec 
tion  of  such  form  of  government  as  they  think  best  adapted 
to  their  situation,  and  to  change  it  as  their  interests,  in  their 
own  judgments,  may  seem  to  require.  Wherein  consists  our 
objection  to  the  Holy  Alliance  ?  Because  they  confederate 
to  maintain  governments  similar  to  their  own,  by  force  of 
arms,  instead  of  the  force  of  reason,  and  the  will  of  the 
governed.  If  we,  too,  confederate  to  sustain,  by  the  same 
means,  governments  similar  to  our  own,  wherein  consists  the 
difference,  except  the  superiority  of  our  cause  ?  What  is 
their  avowed  motive  ?  Self-preservatioji  and  the  peace  of 
Europe.  What  would  be  ours  ?  Self-preservation  and  the 
yeace  of  America.  I  wish  to  be  understood.  I  detest,  as 
much  as  any  man,  the  principles  of  the  Holy   Alliance.     I" 


THE    PANAMA    MISSION.  841 

yield  to  no  man  in  my  anxious  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  Spanish  American  States.  I  will  go  as  far  as 
I  think  any  American  citizen  ought  to  go,  to  secure  to  them 
the  blessings  of  free  government.  I  commend  the  solicitude 
which  has  beea  manifested  by  our  government  upon  this 
subject,  and  have,  of  course,  no  desire  to  discourage  it.  But 
I  am  against  all  alliances,  against  all  armed  confederacies, 
or  confederacies  of  any  sort.  I  care  not  how  specious,  or 
how  disguised  ;  come  in  what  shape  thew  may,  I  oppose 
them.  The  states  in  question  have  the  power  and  the 
means,  if  united  and  true  to  their  principles,  to  resist  any 
force  that  Europe  can  send  against  them.  It  is  only  by 
being  recreant  to  the  principles  upon  which  their  revolution 
is  founded ;  by  suffering  foreign  influence  to  distract  and 
divide  them ;  that  their  independence  can  be  endangered. 
But,  happen  what  may,  our  course  should  be  left  to  our 
choice,  whenever  occasion  for  acting  shall  occur.  If,  in  the 
course  of  events,  designs  shall  be  manifested,  or  steps  taken 
in  this  hemisphere  by  any  foreign  power,  which  so  far  affect 
our  interest  or  our  honor,  as  to  make  it  necessary  that  we 
should  arm  in  their  defence,  it  will  be  done  :  there  is  no 
room  to  doubt  it. 

The  decision  of  that  question  may  safely  be  left  to  those 
who  come  after  us.  That  love  of  country,  and  of  freedom, 
which  now  animates  our  public  councils,  is  not  confined  to 
us,  or  likely  to  become  extinct.  We  require  neither  alliance 
nor  agreement  to  compel  us  to  perform  whatever  our  duty 
enjoins.  Our  national  character  is  our  best,  and  should  be 
our  only  pledge.  Meanwhile,  let  us  bestow  upon  our  neigh- 
bors, the  young  republics  of  the  South,  the  moral  aid  of  a 
good  example.  To  make  that  example  more  salutary,  let  it 
exhibit  our  moderation  in  success,  our  firmness  in  adversity, 
our  devotion  to  our  country  and  its  institutions,  and  above 
all,  that  sine  qua  non  to  the  existence  of  our  republican  go- 
vernment— our  fidelity  to  a  written  Constitution. 

29* 


EXTRACT    FROM    A    SPEECH, 

ON    THE    PANAMA    MISSION, 

BY  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Pains,  sir,  have  been  taken  by  the  honorable  member  from 
Virginia,  to  prove  that  the  measure  now  in  contemplation, 
and,  indeed,  the  whole  policy  of  the  government  respecting 
South  America,  is  the  unhappy  result  of  the  influence  of  a 
gentleman  formerly  filling  the  chair  of  this  House.  To  make 
out  this,  he  has  referred  to  certain  speeches  of  that  gentle- 
man delivered  here.  He  charges  him  with  having  become 
himself  affected  at  an  early  day  with  what  he  is  pleased  to 
call  the  South  American  fever  ;  and  with  having  infused  its 
baneful  influence  into  the  whole  councils  of  the  country. 

If,  sir,  it  be  true,  that  that  gentleman,  prompted  by  an  ar- 
dent love  of  civil  liberty,  felt  earlier  than  others,  a  proper 
sympathy  for  the  struggling  colonies  of  South  America  ;  or 
that,  acting  on  the  maxim,  that  revolutions  do  not  go  back- 
vvardj  he  had  the  sagacity  to  foresee,  earlier  than  others,  the 
successful  termination  of  those  struggles ;  if,  thus  feeling, 
and  thus  perceiving,  it  fell  to  him  to  lead  the  willing  or  un- 
willing councils  of  his  country,  in  her  manifestations  of  kind- 
ness to  the  new  governments,  and  in  her  seasonable  recog- 
nition of  their  independence ;  if  it  be  this  which  the  hon- 
orable  member  imputes  to  him  ;  if  it  be  by  this  course  of 
public  conduct  that  he  has  identified  his  name  with  the  cause 
of  South  American  liberty,  he  ought  to  be  esteemed  one  of 
the  most  fortunate  men  of  the  age.     If  all  this  be,  as  is  now 


Webster's  speech.  343 

represented,  he  has  acquired  fame  enough.  It  is  enough  for 
any  man,  thus  to  have  connected  himself  with  the  great- 
est events  of  the  age  in  which  he  Uves,  and  to  have  been 
foremost  in  measures  which  reflect  high  honor  on  his  country, 
in  the  judgment  of  mankind.  Sir,  it  is  always  with  great 
reluctance  that  I  am  drawn  to  speak,  in  my  place  here,  of 
individuals  ;  but  I  could  not  forbear  what  I  have  now  said, 
when  I  hear,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  in  this 
land  of  free  spirits,  that  it  is  made  matter  of  imputation  and 
of  reproach,  to  have  been  first  to  reach  forth  the  hand  of 
welcome  and  of  succor  to  new-born  nations,  struggling  to 
obtain,  and  to  enjoy,  the  blessings  of  liberty. 

We  are  told  that  the  country  is  deluded  and  deceived  by 
cabalistic  words.  Cabalistic  words  !  If  we  express  an  emo- 
tion of  pleasure  at  the  results  of  this  great  action  of  the 
spirit  of  political  liberty  ;  if  Ave  rejoice  at  the  birth  of  new 
Republican  nations,  and  express  our  joy  by  the  common 
terms  of  i-egard  and  sympathy  ;  if  we  feel  and  signify  high 
gratification  that,  throughout  this  whole  continent,  men  are 
now  likely  to  be  blessed  by  free  and  popular  institutions  ; 
and  if,  in  the  uttering  of  these  sentiments,  we  happen  to 
speak  of  sister  Republics ;  of  the  great  American  family  of 
nations  ;  or  of  the  political  system  and  forms  of  government 
of  this  hemisphere,  then  indeed,  it  seems,  we  deal  in  sense- 
less  jargon,  or  impose  on  the  judgment  and  feeling  of  tho 
community  by  cabalistic  words  !  Sir,  what  is  meant  by  this  ? 
Is  it  intended  that  the  People  of  the  United  States  ought  to 
be  totally  indifferent  to  the  fortunes  of  these  new  neighbors? 
Is  no  change,  in  the  lights  in  which  we  are  to  view  them,  to 
be  wrought,  by  their  having  thrown  off  foreign  dominion, 
established  independence,  and  instituted,  on  our  very  borders, 
republican  governments,  essentially  after  our  own  example  ? 

Sir,  I  do  not  wish  to  overrate,  I  do  not  overrate,  the  prog- 
ress  of  these  new  States  in  the  great  work  of  establishing  a 
well-secured  popular  liberty.  I  know  that  to  be  a  great  at- 
tainment, and  I  know  they  are  but  pupils  in  the  school.    But, 


344  wbbstkr's  speech  on 

thank  God,  they  are  in  the  school.  They  are  called  to  meet 
difficulties,  such  as  neither  we  nor  our  fathers  encountered. 
For  these,  we  ought  to  make  large  allowances.  What  have 
we  ever  known  like  the  colonial  vassalage  of  these  States  ? 
When  did  we  or  our  ancestors,  feci,  like  them,  the  weight  of 
a  political  despotism  that  presses  men  to  the  earth,  or  of  that 
religious  iutolerance  which  would  shut  up  heaven  to  all  but 
the  bigoted  ?  Sir,  we  sprung  from  another  stock.  We  be- 
long to  another  race.  We  have  known  nothing — we  have 
felt  nothing  of  the  political  despotism  of  Spain,  nor  of  the 
heat  of  her  fires  of  intolerance.  No  rational  man  expects 
that  the  South  can  run  the  same  rapid  career  as  the  North  ; 
or  that  an  insurgent  province  of  Spain  is  in  the  same  condi- 
tion as  the  English  colonies,  when  they  first  asserted  their 
independence.  There  is,  doubtless,  much  more  to  be  done, 
in  the  first  than  in  the  last  case.  But  on  that  account  the 
honor  of  the  attempt  is  not  less  ;  and  if  all  difficulties  shall 
be  in  time  surmounted,  it  will  be  greater.  The  work  may 
be  more  arduous — it  is  not  less  noble,  because  there  may  be 
more  of  ignorance  to  enlighten  ;  more  of  bigotry  to  subdue  ; 
more  of  prejudice  to  eradicate.  If  it  be  a  weakness  to  feel 
a  strong  interest  in  the  success  of  these  great  revolutions,  I 
confess  myself  guilty  of  that  weakness.  If  it  be  weak  to  feel 
that  I  am  an  American,  to  think  that  recent  events  have  not 
only  opened  new  modes  of  intercourse,  but  have  created  also 
new  grounds  of  regard  and  sympathy  between  ourselves  and 
our  neigbors ;  if  it  be  weak  to  feel  that  the  South,  in  her 
present  state,  is  somewhat  more  emphatically  a  part  of 
America,  than  when  she  lay  obscure,  oppressed,  and  unknown, 
under  the  grinding  bondage  of  a  foreign  power;  if  it  bo 
weak,  to  rejoice,  when,  even  in  any  corner  of  the  earth,  hu- 
man bcintrs  are  able  to  get  up  from  beneath  oppression,  to 
erect  themselves,  and  to  enjoy  the  proper  happiness  of  their 
intellisent  nature ;  if  this  be  weak,  it  is  a  weakness  from 
which  I  claim  no  exemption. 

A  day  of  solemn  retribution  now  visits  the  once  proud 


THE    PANAMA    MISSION.  845 

monarchy  of  Spain.     The  prediction  is  fulfilled,     The  spirit 
of  Montezuma  and  of  the  Incas  might  now  well  say, 

"  Art  thou,  too,  fallen,  Iberia  ?    Do  we  see 
The  robber  and  the  murderer  weak  as  we  1 
Thou :  that  has  wasted  earth  and  dared  despise 
Alike  the  wrath  and  mercy  of  the  skies, 
Thy  pomp  is  m  the  grave;  thy  glory  laid 
Low  in  the  pit  thine  avarice  has  made." 

Mr.  Chairman  :  I  will  detain  you  only  with  one  more  re- 
flection on  this  subject.  We  cannot  be  so  blind — we  can- 
not so  shut  up  our  senses,  and  smother  our  faculties,  as  not 
to  see,  that  in  the  progress  and  the  establishment  of  South 
American  Uberty,  our  own  example  has  been  among  the 
most  stimulating  causes.  In  their  emergencies,  they  have 
looked  to  our  experience  ;  in  their  political  institutions,  they 
have  followed  our  models  ;  in  their  deliberations,  they  have 
invoked  the  presiding  spirit  of  our  own  liberty.  They  have 
looked  steadily,  in  every  adversity,  to  the  great  northern 
LIGHT.  In  the  hour  of  bloody  conflict,  they  have  remembered 
the  fields  which  have  been  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  our 
own  fathers  ;  and  when  they  have  fallen,  they  have  wished 
only  to  be  remembered  with  them,  as  men  who  had  acted  their 
parts  bravely,  for  the  cause  of  liberty  in  the  Western  World. 

Sir,  I  have  done.  If  it  be  weakness  to  feel  the  sympathy 
of  one's  nature  excited  for  such  men,  in  such  a  cause,  I  am 
guilty  of  that  weakness.  If  it  be  prudent  to  meet  their  prof, 
fered  civility,  not  with  reciprocal  kindness,  but  v.ith  coldness 
or  insult,  I  choose  still  to  follow  where  natural  impulse  leads, 
and  to  give  up  that  false  and  mistaken  prudence,  for  tho 
voluntary  sentiments  of  my  heart. 


EXTRACT   FROM    A  SPEECH, 

ON  THE   BILL  PROPOSING   TO   ADD    TWENTY   THOUSAND 
MEN  TO  THE  MILITARY  ESTABLISHMENT,  IN  I8I5. 

BY  JOSIAH  QUINCY. 

As  from  the  uniform  tenor  of  the  conduct  of  the  Ameri- 
can cabinet  in  relation  to  the  British  government,  I  have  no 
behef,  that  their  intention  has  been  to  make  a  sohd  arranne- 
ment  with  that  nation,  so,  from  the  evidence  of  their  dispo- 
sition and  intention,  existing  abroad,  and  on  the  table,  I 
have  no  belief  that  such  is  at  present  their  purpose.  I  can- 
not possibly  think  otherwise,  than  that  such  is  not  their 
intention.  Let  us  take  the  case  in  common  life.  I  have 
demands,  Mr.  Speaker,  against  you,  very  just  in  their  na- 
ture, but  different.  Some  of  recent  ;  others  of  very  old 
date.  The  former  depending  upon  principles  very  clearly 
in  my  favor.  The  latter  critical,  difficult  and  dubious,  both 
in  principle  and  settlement.  In  this  state  of  things  and  du- 
ring  your  absence,  I  watch  my  opportunity,  declare  enmity, 
throw  myself  upon  your  children,  and  servants,  and  property, 
which  happen  to  be  in  my  neighborhood,  and  do  them  all  the 
injury  I  can.  While  I  am  doing  this,  I  receive  a  messen- 
ger from  you  stating  that  the  grounds  of  the  recent  injury 
are  settled  ;  that  you  comply  fully  with  my  terms.  Your 
servants  and  children,  whom  I  am  plundering  and  killing, 
invite  me  to  stay  my  hand  until  you  return,  or  until  some 
accommodation  can  take  place  between  us.  But,  deaf  to 
any  such  suggestions,  I  prosecute  my  intention  of  injury  to 


atJINCY  S    SPEECH.  347 

the  utmost.  When  there  is  reason  to  expect  your  return, 
I  multiply  my  means  of  injury  and  offence.  And  no  sooner 
do  I  hear  of  your  arrival,  than  I  thrust  my  fist  in  your  face, 
and  say  to  you,  "  well,  sir,  here  are  fair  propositions  of 
settlement.  Come  to  my  terms,  which  are  very  just.  Set- 
tle the  old  demand  in  my  way,  and  we  will  be  as  good  friends 
as  ever."  Mr.  Speaker,  what  would  be  your  conduct  on 
such  an  occasion?  Would  you  be  apt  to  look  as  much  at 
the  nature  of  the  propositions,  as  at  the  temper  of  the  assail- 
ant ?  If  you  did  not  at  once,  return  blow  for  blow,  and 
injury  for  injury,  would  you  not,  at  least,  take  a  little  time 
to  consider  ?  Would  you  not  tell  such  an  assailant,  that 
you  were  not  to  be  bullied,  nor  beaten  into  any  concession  ? 
If  you  settled  at  all,  might  you  not  consider  it  your  duty,  in 
some  way  to  make  him  feel  the  consequences  of  his  strange 
intemperance  of  passion  ?  For  myself,  I  have  no  question 
how  a  man  of  spirit  ought  to  act  under  such  circumstances. 
I  have  as  little  how  a  great  nation,  like  Great  Britain,  will 
act.  Now,  I  have  no  doubt,  sir,  that  the  American  cabinet 
view  this  subject  in  the  same  light.  They  understand  well, 
that  by  the  declaration  of  war,  the  invasion  of  Canada,  the 
the  refusal  of  an  armistice,  and  perseverance  in  hostilities, 
after  the  principal  ground  of  war  had  been  removed,  they 
have  wrought  the  minds  of  the  British  cabinet  and  people  to 
a  very  high  state  of  irritation.  Now  is  the  very  moment  to 
get  up  some  grand  scheme  of  pacification  ;  such  as  may 
persuade  the  American  people  of  the  inveterate  love  of  our 
cabinet  for  peace,  and  make  them  acquiescent  in  their  per- 
severance in  hostilities.  Accordingly,  before  the  end  of  the 
session,  a  great  tub  will  be  thrown  out  to  the  whale. 
Probably  a  little  while  before  the  spring  elections,  terms  of 
very  fair  import  will  be  proffered  to  Great  Britain ;  such  as, 
perhaps,  six  months  ago  our  cabinet  would  not  have  granted, 
had  she  solicited  them  on  her  knees ;  such  as,  probably,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  people  of  this  country,  Great  Britain  ought 
to  accept ;  such,  perhaps,  as  in  any  other  state  of  things,  she 


348  auiNcv's  speech  on 

would  have  accepted ;  but  such,  as  I  fear,  under  the  irrita- 
tion, produced  by  the  strange  course  pursued  by  the  Ameri* 
can  cabinet,  that  nation  will  not  accept.  Sir,  I  do  not 
believe,  that  our  cabinet  expect,  that  they  will  be  accepted. 
They  think  the  present  state  of  induced  passion  is  sufficient 
to  prevent  arrangement.  But,  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  to  take  a  bond  of  fate,  that  arrangement  shall  not  hap« 
pen,  they  prepare  this  bill — a  bill,  which  proposes  an  aug. 
mentation  of  the  army  for  the  express  purpose  of  conquering 
the  Canadas — a  bill,  which,  connected  with  the  recent  dis- 
position evinced  by  our  cabinet  in  relation  to  those  provin- 
ces, and  with  the  avowed  intent  of  making  their  subjugation 
the  means  of  peace  through  the  fear  to  be  inspired  into 
Great  Britian,  is  r.s  offensive  to  the  pride  of  that  nation,  as 
can  well  be  imagined  ;  and  is,  in  my  apprehension,  as  sure 
a  guarantee  of  continued  war  as  could  be  given.  On  these 
grounds,  my  mind  cannot  force  itself  to  any  other  conclu- 
sion than  this,  that  the  avowed  object  of  this  bill  is  the  true 
one  ;  that  the  Canadas  are  to  be  invaded  the  next  season  ; 
that  the  war  is  to  be  protracted  ;  and  that  this  is  the  real 
policy  of  the  American  cabinet. 

I  will  now  reply  to  those  invitations  to  "union,"  which 
have  been  so  obtrusively  urged  upon  us.  If,  by  this  call  to 
union,  is  meant  an  union  in  a  project  for  the  invasion  of 
Canada,  or  for  the  invasion  of  East  Florida,  or  for  the  con- 
quest of  any  foreign  country  whatever,  cither  as  a  means  of 
carrying  on  this  war,  or  for  any  other  purpose,  I  answer 
distinctly;—!  will  unite  with  no  man,  nor  any  body  of  men, 
for  any  such  purposes.  I  think  such  projects  criminal  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  ruinous  to  the  prosperity  of  these 
states.  But,  if  by  this  invitation  is  meant  union  in  prepa- 
ration for  defence,  strictly  so  called  ;  union  in  fortifying  our 
sea-board ;  union  in  putting  our  cities  in  a  state  of  safety  ; 
union  in  raising  such  a  military  force  as  shall  be  sufficient, 
with  the  local  militia,  in  the  hands  of  the  constitutional 
leaders,  the  executives  of  the  states,  to  give  a  rational  degree 


TUB    !SIE\V    ARMY    BILL.  349 

«f  security  against  any  invasion,  sufficient  to  defend 
our  frontiers,  sufficient  to  awe  into  silence  the  Indian 
tribes  within  our  territories ;  union  in  creating  such  a 
maritime  force,  as  shall  command  the  seas  on  the  Ame- 
rican coasts,  and  keep  open  the  intercourse,  at  least  be- 
tween the  states; — if  this  is  meant,  I  have  no  hesitation; 
union  on  such  principles,  you  shall  have  from  me,  cor- 
dially and  faithfully— and  this  too,  sir,  without  any  refer- 
ence to  the  state  of  my  opinion  in  relation  to  the  justice, 
or  the  necessity  of  this  war.  Because,  I  well  understand 
such  to  be  the  condition  of  man  in  a  social  compact,  that  he 
must  partake  of  the  fate  of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs, 
and  must  submit  to  the  privations  and  sacrifices  its  defence 
requires,  notwithstanding  these  may  be  the  result  of  the 
vices,  or  crimes  of  its  immediate  rulers.  But  there  is  a 
great  difference  between  supporting  such  rulers  in  plans  of 
necessary  self-defence,  on  which  the  safety  of  our  altars, 
and  firesides,  essentially  depends,  and  supporting  them  in 
projects  of  foreign  invasion,  and  encouraging  them  in 
schemes  of  conquest  and  ambition  which  are  not  only  unjust 
in  themselves,  but  dreadful  in  their  consequences  ;  inasmuch 
as,  let  the  particular  project  result  as  it  may,  the  general 
effect  must  be,  according  to  human  view,  destructive  to  our 
own  domestic  liberties  and  constitution.  I  speak  as  an  in- 
dividual. Sir,  for  my  single  self,  did  I  support  such  projects, 
as  are  avowed  to  be  the  objects  of  this  bill,  I  should  deem 
myself  a  traitor  to  my  country.  Were  I  even  to  aid  them, 
by  loan,  or  any  other  way,  I  should  consider  myself  a  par- 
taker in  the  guilt  of  the  purpose.  But,  when  these  projects 
of  invasion  shall  be  abandoned  ;  when  men  yield  up  schemes, 
which,  not  only  openly  contemplate  the  raising  of  a  great 
military  force,  but  also  the  concentrating  them  at  one  point, 
and  placing  them  in  one  hand  ;  schemes  obviously  ruinoua 
to  the  fates  of  a  free  republic,  as  they  comprehend  the  means> 
by  which  such  have  ever,  heretofore,  been  destroyed  ;— 
when,  I  say,  such  schemes  shall  be  abandoned,  and  the  wishes 

30 


350  quincy's  speech  on 

of  the  cabinet  limited  to  mere  defence,  and  frontier  and 
maritime  protection,  there  will  be  no  need  of  calls  to  union. 
For  such  objects  there  is  not,  there  cannot  be,  but  one  heart 
and  soul  in  this  people. 

I  know,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  while  I  utter  these  things,  a 
thousand  tongues,  and  a  thousand  pens,  are  preparing,  with- 
out doors,  to  overwhelm  me,  if  possible,  by  their  pestiferous 
gall.  Already  I  hear,  in  the  air,  the  sound  of—"  traitor" — 
"  British  agent" — "  British  gold" — and  all  those  changes  of 
vulgar  calumny,  by  which  the  imaginations  of  the  mass  of 
men  are  affected ;  and  by  which  they  are  prevented  from 
listening  to  what  is  true,  and  receiving  what  is  reasonable. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  well  becomes  any  man,  standing  in  the 
presence  of  such  a  nation  as  this,  to  speak  of  himself  seldom  ; 
and  such  a  man  as  I  am,  it  becomes  to  speak  of  himself,  not 
at  all ;  except,  indeed,  when  the  relations  in  which  he  stands 
to  his  country,  are  little  known,  and  when  the  assertion  of 
those  relations  has  some  connexion,  and  may  have  some 
influence  on  interests,  which  it  is  peculiarly  incumbent  upon 
him  to  support.  Under  this  sanction,  I  say,  it  is  not  for  a 
man,  whose  ancestors  have  been  planted  in  this  country, 
now,  for  almost  two  centuries  ;  it  is  not  for  a  man,  who  has 
a  family,  and  friends,  and  character,  and  children,  and  a 
deep  stake  in  the  soil ;  it  is  not  for  a  man,  who  is  self-con- 
scious of  being  rooted  in  that  soil  as  deeply  and  exclusively, 
as  the  oak  which  shoots  among  its  rocks  ;  it  is  not  for  such 
a  man  to  hesitate  or  swerve  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  coun- 
try's purpose  and  true  interests,  because  of  the  yelpings,  the 
bowlings  and  snarlings  of  that  hungry  pack,  which  corrupt 
men  keep,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  pay,  with  the  view  of 
hunting  down  every  man  who  dare  develope  their  purposes  ; 
a  pack,  composed,  it  is  true,  of  some  native  curs,  but  for  the 
most  part,  of  hounds  and  spaniels  of  very  recent  importation, 
whose  backs  are  scared  by  the  lash,  and  whose  necks  are 
sore  with  the  collars  of  their  former  masters.     In  fulfilling 


THE    NEW    ARMY    BILL.  351 

his  duty,  the  lover  of  his  country  must  often  be  obUged  to 
breast  the  shock  of  calumny.  If  called  to  that  service,  he 
will  meet  the  exigency  with  the  same  firmness,  as,  should 
another  occasion  call,  he  would  breast  the  shock  of  battle. 
No,  sir,  I  am  not  to  be  deterred  by  such  apprehensions. 
May  heaven  so  deal  with  me  and  mine,  as  I  am  true  or 
faithless  to  the  best  interests  of  this  people  !  May  it  deal 
with  me  according  to  its  just  judgments,  when  I  fail  to 
bring  men  and  measures  to  the  bar  of  public  opinion  ;  and 
to  expose  projects  and  systems  of  policy,  which  I  realize  to 
be  ruinous  to  the  peace,  prosperity  and  liberties  of  my 
country ! 


£:XTRACT  FROM  A   SPEECH, 

ON  THE  BILL  PROPOSING  TO   ADD  TWENTY  THOUSAND 
MEN    TO   THE   ARMY,    IN  1815. 

BY  HENRY  CLAY, 

— QQfS— 

I  am  far  from  acknowledging,  that,  had  the  orders  in 
council  been  repealed,  as  they  have  been,  before  the  war 
was  declared,  the  declaration  of  hostilities  would  of  course 
have  been  prevented.  In  a  body  so  numerous  as  this  is, 
from  which  the  declaration  emanated,  it  is  impossible  to  say, 
with  any  degree  of  certainty,  what  would  have  been  the 
effect  of  such  a  repeal.  Each  member  must  answer  for 
himself.  As  to  myself,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that 
I  have  always  considered  the  impressment  of  American  sea- 
men,  as  much  the  most  serious  aggression.  But,  sir,  how 
have  those  orders  at  last  been  repealed  ?  Great  Britain,  it 
is  true,  has  intimated  a  willingness  to  suspend  their  practical 
operation,  but  she  still  arrogates  to  herself  the  right  to  re- 
vive them  upon  certain  contingencies,  of  Avhich  she  consti- 
tutes herself  the  sole  judge.  She  waves  the  temporary  use 
of  the  rod,  but  she  suspends  it  in  terrorem  over  our  heads. 
Supposing  it  to  bs  conceded  to  gentlemen  that  such  a  repeal 
of  the  orders  in  council,  as  took  place  on  the  twenty-third 
of  June  last,  exceptionable  as  it  is,  being  known  before  the 
war  was  proclaimed,  would  have  prevented  it :  does  it  follow, 
that  it  ought  to  induce  us  to  lay  down  our  arms,  without  the 
redress  of  any  other  injury  of  which  we  complain  ?  Does  it 
follow,  in  all  cases,  that  that,  which  would  in  the  first  in. 
stance  have  prevented,  would  also  terminate  the  war  ?  By 
no  means.     It  requires  a  strong  and  powerful  effort  in  a  na. 


clay's  speech,  353 

lion,  prone  to  peace  as  this  is,  to  burst  through  its  habits 
and  encounter  the  difficulties  and  privations  of  war.  Such 
a  nation  ought  but  seldom  to  embark  in  a  belligerent  con- 
test ;  but  when  it  does,  it  should  be  for  obvious  and  essential 
rights  alone,  and  should  firmly  resolve  to  extort,  at  all  haz- 
ards, their  recognition.  The  war  of  the  revolution  is  an 
example  of  a  war  began  for  one  object  and  prosecuted  for 
another.  It  was  waged,  in  its  commencement,  against  the 
right  asserted  by  the  parent  country  to  tax  the  colonies. 
Then  no  one  thought  of  absolute  independence.  The  idea 
of  independence  was  repelled.  But  the  British  government 
would  have  relinquished  the  principle  of  taxation.  The 
founders  of  our  liberties  saw,  however,  that  there  was  no  se- 
curity short  of  independence,  and  they  achieved  that  inde- 
pendence. When  nations  are  engaged  in  war,  those  rights 
'  in  controversy,  which  are  not  acknowledged  by  the  treaty 
of  peace,  are  abandoned.  And  who  is  prepared  to  say,  that 
American  seamen  shall  be  surrendered,  as  victims  to  the 
British  principle  of  impressment  ?  And,  sir,  what  is  this 
principle  ?  She  contends,  that  she  has  a  right  to  the  services 
of  her  own  subjects ;  and  that,  in  the  exercise  of  this  right, 
she  may  lawfully  impress  them,  even  although  she  finds  them 
in  American  vessels,  upon  the  high  seas,  without  her  juris- 
diction. Now  I  deny  that  she  has  any  right,  beyond  her 
jurisdiction,  to  come  on  board  our  vessels,  upon  the  high 
seas,  for  any  other  purpose  than  in  the  pursuit  of  enemies, 
or  their  goods,  or  goods  contraband  of  war.  But  she  further 
contends,  that  her  subjects  cannot  renounce  their  allegiance 
to  her,  and  contract  a  new  obligation  to  other  sovereigns.  I 
do  not  mean  to  go  into  the  general  question  of  the  right  of 
expatriation.  If,  as  is  contended,  all  nations  deny  it,  all 
nations,  at  the  same  time,  admit  and  practice  the  right  of 
naturalization.  Great  Britain  herself  does  this.  Great 
Britain,  in  the  very  case  of  foreign  seamen,  imposes,  per- 
haps, fewer  restraints  upon  naturalization  than  any  other 

nation.     Then,  if  subjects  cannot  break  their  original  alle- 
30* 


354  clay's  speech  on 

giance,  they  may,  according  to  universal  usage,  contract  a 
new  allegiance.  What  is  the  effect  of  this  double  obligation  ? 
Undoubtedly,  that  the  sovereign  having  the  possession  of  the 
subject,  would  have  the  right  to  the  services  of  the  subject. 
If  he  return  within  the  jurisdiction  of  his  primitive  sovereign, 
he  may  resume  his  right  to  his  services,  of  which  the  sub- 
ject, by  his  oM'n  act,  could  not  divest  himself.  But  his  prim- 
itive  sovereign  can  have  no  right  to  go  in  quest  of  him,  out 
of  his  own  jurisdiction,  into  the  jurisdiction  of  another  sove- 
reign, or  upon  the  high  seas  ;  where  there  exists  no  jurisdic- 
tion, or  it  is  possessed  by  the  nation  owning  the  ship  navi- 
gating  them.  But,  sir,  this  discussion  is  altogether  useless. 
It  is  not  to  the  British  principle,  objectionable  as  it  is,  that 
we  are  alone  to  look  ;  it  is  to  her  practice,  no  matter  what 
guise  she  puts  on.  It  is  in  vain  to  assert  the  inviolability  of 
the  obligation  of  allegiance.  It  is  in  vain  to  set  up  the  plea 
of  necessity,  and  to  allege  that  she  cannot  exist  without  the 
impressment  of  her  seamen.  The  naked  truth  is,  she  comes, 
by  her  press  gangs,  on  board  of  our  vessels,  seizes  our  native 
as  well  as  naturalized  seamen,  and  drags  them  into  her  ser- 
vice. It  is  the  case,  then,  of  the  assertion  of  an  erroneous 
principle,  and  of  a  practice  not  conformable  to  the  asserted 
principle — a  principle  which,  if  it  were  theoretically  right, 
must  be  for  ever  practically  wrong — a  practice  which  can 
obtain  countenance  from  no  principle  whatever,  and  to 
submit  to  which,  on  our  part,  would  betray  the  most  ab- 
ject degradation.  We  are  told,  by  gentlemen  in  the  opposi- 
tion, that  government  has  not  done  all  that  was  incumbent 
on  it  to  do,  to  avoid  just  cause  of  complaint  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  ;  that,  in  particular,  the  certificates  of  protec 
tion,  authorized  by  the  act  of  1796,  are  fraudulently  used. 
Sir,  government  has  done  too  much  in  granting  those  paper 
protections.  I  can  never  think  of  them  without  being 
shocked.  They  resemble  the  passes  which  the  master  grants 
to  his  negro  slave — "  let  the  bearer,  Mungo,  pass  and  repass 
■without  molestation."     What  do  they  imply  ?     That  Great 


THB    NEW    AKMY    BILL.  365 

Britain  has  a  right  to  seize  all  who  are  not  provided  with 
them.  From  their  very  nature  they  must  be  liable  to  abuse 
on  both  sides.  If  Great  Britain  desires  a  mark,  by  which 
she  can  know  her  own  subjects,  let  her  give  them  an  ear- 
mark. The  colors  that  float  from  the  mast-head  should  be 
the  credentials  of  our  seamen.  There  is  no  safety  to  us, 
and  the  gentlemen  have  shown  it,  but  in  the  rule  that  all 
who  sail  under  the  flag,  (not  being  enemies,)  are  protected 
by  the  flag.  It  is  impossible  that  this  country  should  ever 
abandon  the  gallant  tars,  who  have  won  for  us  such  splen- 
did trophies.  Let  me  suppose  that  the  genius  of  Columbia 
should  visit  one  of  them  in  his  oppressor's  prison,  and  attempt 
to  reconcile  him  to  his  forlorn  and  wretched  condition.  She 
would  say  to  him,  in  the  language  of  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side  :  "  Great  Britain  intends  you  no  harm  ;  she  did  not  mean 
to  impress  you,  but  one  of  her  own  subjects ;  having  taken  you 
by  mistake,  I  will  remonstrate,  and  try  to  prevail  upon  her,  by 
peaceable  means,  to  release  you,  but  I  cannot,  my  son,  fight  for 
vou."  If  he  did  not  consider  this  mere  mockery,  the  poor  tar 
would  address  her  judgment  and  say,  '  You  owe  me,  my  coun- 
try, protection  ;  I  owe  you,  in  return,  obedience.  I  am  no 
British  subject,  I  am  a  native  of  old  Massachusetts,  where  live 
my  aged  father,  my  wife,  my  children.  I  have  faithfully 
discharged  my  duty.  Will  you  refuse  to  do  yours  V  Ap- 
pealing  to  her  passions,  he  would  continue  :  '  I  lost  this  eye 
in  fighting  under  Truxton,  with  the  Insurgente  ;  I  got  this 
scar  before  Tripoli  ;  I  broke  this  leg  on  board  the  Constitu- 
tion, when  the  Guerriere  struck.'  If  she  remained  still  un- 
moved,  he  would  break  out,  in  the  accents  of  mingled  distress 
and  despair. 

Hard,  hard  is  my  fate  !  once  I  freedom  enjoyed, 

Was  as  happy  as  happy  could  be  ! 

Oh  !  how  hard  is  my  fate,  how  galling  these  chains  ! 

I  will  not  imagine  the  dreadful  catastrophe  to  which  he  would 
be  driven  by  an  abandoment  of  him  to  his  oppressor.  It  will 
not  be,  it  cannot  be,  that  his  country  will  refuse  him  protection. 


EXTRACT  FROM  A    DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  VERMONT  ON 
THE  DAY  OF  ELECTION. 

BY  WILLBUR  FISK. 

TnERE  is  a  spirit,  an  active,  aspiring  principle  in  man, 
which  cannot  be  broken  down  by  oppression,  or  satisfied  by 
indulcrcnco. 


D" 


"  He  has  a  soul  of  vast  desires, 
It  burns  within  with  restless  fires." 

Desires,  which  no  earthly  good  can  satisfy  ;  fires  which  no 
waters  of  aflSiction  or  discouragement  can  quench.  And 
it  is  from  this  his  nature,  that  society  derives  all  its  inter- 
ests, and  here  also  lies  all  its  danger.  This  spirit  is  at  onco 
the  terror  of  tyrants,  and  the  destroyer  of  republics. 

To  form  some  idea  of  its  strength,  let  us  look  at  it  in  its 
different  conditions,  both  when  it  is  depressed,  and  when  it 
is  e.xalted.  See  when  it  is  bent  down  for  a  time,  by  the  iron 
grasp  and  leaden  sceptre  of  tyranny,  cramping,  and  curtail- 
ing, and  hedging  in  the  soul,  and  foihng  it  in  all  its  attempts 
to  break  from  its  bonds  and  assert  its  native  independence. 
In  these  cases,  the  noble  spirit,  like  a  wild  beast  in  the  toils, 
sinks  down  at  times,  into  sullen  inactivity,  only  that  it  may 
rise  again,  when  exhausted  nature  is  a  little  restored,  to  rush, 
as  hope  excites  or  madness  impels,  in  stronger  paroxysms 
airainst  the  cords  which  bind  it  down. 

This  is  seen  in  the  mobs  and  rebellions  of  the  most  besot- 
ted and  enslaved  nations.     Witness  the   repeated  convul- 


pisk's  discourse.  857 

sions  in  Ireland,  that  degraded  and  oppressed  country. 
Neither  desolating  armies,  nor  numerous  garrisons,  nor  the 
most  rigorous  administration,  enforced  by  thousands  of  pub- 
lic executions,  can  break  the  spirit  of  that  restless  people. 

Witness  Greece ;  generations  have  passed  away  since  the 
■warriors  of  Greece  have  had  their  feet  put  in  fetters,  and  the 
race  of  heroes  had  apparently  become  extinct  ;  and  the 
Grecian  lyre  had  long  been  unstrung,  and  her  lights  put  out. 
Her  haughty  masters  thought  her  spirit  was  dead  ;  but  it  was 
not  dead,  it  only  slept.  In  a  moment,  as  it  were,  we  saw  all 
Greece  in  arms ;  she  shook  off  her  slumbers,  and  rushed 
with  phrensy  and  hope,  upon  seeming  impossibilities,  to  con- 
quer or  to  die. 

And  though  the  mother  and  the  daughter,  as  well  as  the 
father  and  the  son,  have  fought  and  fallen  in  the  common 
cause,  until  her  population  grows  thin  ;  though  Missolonghi 
and  many  other  strong  holds  are  fallen,  until  her  fortifica- 
tions are  few  and  feeble ;  though  Christian  nations  have 
looked  on  with  a  cruel  inactivity,  without  lending  their 
needed  aid  ;  yet  the  spirit  of  Greece  is  no  more  subdued 
than  at  the  commencement  of  the  contest.  It  cannot  be 
subdued. 

We  see  then  that  man  has  a  spirit,  which  is  not  easily 
broken  down  by  oppression.  Let  us  inquire,  whether  it  can 
be  more  easily  satisfied  by  indulgence.  And  in  every  step 
of  this  inquiry,  we  shall  find  that  no  miser  ever  yet  had  gold 
enough ;  no  office-seeker  ever  yet  had  honor  enough ;  no 
conqueror  ever  yet  subdued  kingdoms  enough.  When  the 
rich  man  had  filled  his  store-houses,  he  must  pull  down  and 
build  larger.  When  Caesar  had  conquered  all  his  enemies, 
he  must  enslave  his  friends. 

When  Bonaparte  had  become  the  Emperor  of  France,  he 
aspired  to  the  throne  of  all  Europe.  Facts,  a  thousand 
facts,  in  every  age  and  among  all  classes,  prove,  that  such  is 
the  ambitious  nature  of  the  soul,  such  the  increasing  com- 
pass  of  its  vast  desires,  that  the   material  universe,  with  all 


358  pisk's  discourse  before 

its  vastness,  richness,  and  variety,  cannot  satisfy  it.  Nor 
is  it  in  the  power  of  the  governments  of  this  world,  in  their 
most  perfect  forms,  so  to  interest  the  feeUngs,  so  to  regulate 
the  desires,  so  to  restrain  the  passions,  or  so  to  divert,  or 
charm,  or  chain  the  souls  of  a  whole  community,  but  that 
these  latent  and  ungovernable  fires  will  sooner  or  later  burst 
out  and  endanger  the  whole  body  politic. 

I  know  it  has  been  supposed,  by  the  politicians,  that  in  an 
intelligent  and  well-educated  community,  a  government 
might  be  so  constituted  by  a  proper  balance  of  power,  by 
equal  representation,  and  by  leaving  open  the  avenues  to 
office  and  wealth,  for  a  fair  and  honorable  competition  among 
all  classes,  as  to  perpetuate  the  system  to  the  latest  poster- 
ity. Such  a  system  of  government,  it  is  acknowledged,  is 
the  most  likely  to  continue ;  but  all  these  political  and  litera- 
ry  helps,  unaided  by  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  will  not  secure 
any  community  from  revolution  and  ruin. 

And  he  knows  but  little  of  the  nature  of  man  who  judges 
otherwise.  What  has  been  the  fate  of  the  ancient  repub- 
lies  ?  They  have  been  dissolved  by  this  same  restless  and 
disorganizing  spirit,  of  which  we  have  been  speaking.  And 
do  we  not  see  the  same  dangerous  spirit,  in  our  own  com- 
paratively happy  and  strongly  constituted  republic. 

The  wise  framers  of  our  excellent  political  institutions, 
like  the  eclectic  philosophers,  have  selected  the  best  parts 
out  of  all  the  systems  which  preceded  them  ;  and  to  these 
have  added  others,  according  to  the  suggestions  of  their 
own  wisdom,  or  the  leadings  of  Providence,  and  have  form- 
ed the  whole  into  a  constitution,  the  most  perfect  the  world 
has  ever  witnessed.  Here  every  thing  that  is  rational  in 
political  liberty,  is  enjoyed ;  here  the  most  salutary  checks 
and  restraints,  that  have  yet  been  discovered,  are  laid  upon 
men  in  office. 

Here  the  road  to  honor  and  wealth  is  open  to  all  ;  and 
here  is  general  intelligence.  But  here  man  is  found  to  pos- 
sess the  same  nature  as  elsewhere.     And  the  stirrines  of  his 


THE    VERMONT    LEGISLATURE.  359 

restless  spirit  have  already  disturbed  the  peace  of  society 
and  portend  future  convulsions.  Party  spirit  is  begotten  ; 
ambitious  views  are  engendered,  and  fed,  and  inflamed; 
many  are  running  the  race  for  office  ;  rivals  are  envied  ; 
characters  are  aspersed  ;  animosities  are  enkindled  ;  and 
the  whole  community  are  disturbed  by  the  electioneering 
contest. 

No  meanness  is  foregone,  no  calumny  is  too  glaring,  no 
venaUty  is  too  base,  when  the  mind  is  inflamed  with  strong 
desire,  and  elated  with  the  hope  of  success,  in  the  pursuit  of 
some  favorite  object.  And  when  the  doubtful  question  is 
decided,  it  avails  nothing.  Disappointment  sours  the  mind, 
and  often  produces  the  most  bitter  enmity  and  the  most  set- 
tled and  systematic  opposition,  in  the  unsuccessful  party  ; 
while  success  but  imperfectly  satisfies  the  mind  of  the  more 
fortunate. 

And  if  no  other  influence  come  in,  to  curb  the  turbulent 
spirits  of  men,  besides  that  which  is  found  in  our  general 
intelligence,  and  constitutional  checks,  probably,  at  no 
great  distance  of  time,  such  convulsions  may  be  witnessed 
in  our  now  happy  country,  as  shall  make  the  ears  of  him 
that  heareth  it  tingle,  and  the  eyes  of  him  that  seeth  it  weep 
blood.  State  may  be  arrayed  against  state,  section  against 
section,  and  party  against  party,  till  all  the  horrors  of  civil 
war  may  desolate  our  land.  Are  there  no  grounds  for  such 
fears  ? 

Already  office-seekers,  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
unblushingly  recommend  themselves  to  notice,  and  palm 
themselves  upon  the  people,  by  every  electioneering  ma- 
noeuvre ;  and  in  this  way,  such  an  excitement  is  produced,' in 
many  parts  of  the  union,  as  makes  the  contending  parties 
almost  Uke  mobs,  assailing  each  other.  Only  let  the  public 
sense  become  vitiated,  and  let  a  number  of  causes  unite  to 
produce  a  general  excitement,  and  all  our  fair  political  pro- 
portions would  fall  before  the  spirit  of  party,  as  certainly 
and  as  ruinously  as  the  fair  proportions  of  Italian  architect 
ture  fell  before  the  ancient  Goths  and  Vandals. 


EXTRACT, 

FROM  A  "PLEA  FOR  THE   WEST>" 
BY  LYMAN  BEECHER. 

The  great  experiment  is  now  making,  and  from  its  extent 
and  rapid  filling  up  is  making  in  the  West,  whether  the  per- 
petuity of  our  republican  institutions  can  be  reconciled  with 
universal  suffrage.  Without  the  education  of  the  head  and 
heart  of  the  nation,  they  cannot  be  ;  and  the  question  to  be 
decided  is,  can  the  nation,  or  the  vast  balance  power  of  it  be 
so  imbued  with  intelligence  and  virtue,  as  to  bring  out,  in 
laws  and  -their  administration,  a  perpetual  self-preserving 
energy  ?  We  know  that  the  work  is  a  vast  one,  and  of  great 
difficulty  ;  and  yet  we  believe  it  can  be  done. 

We  know  that  we  have  reached  an  appalling  crisis  ;  that 
the  work  is  vast  and  difficult,  and  is  accumulating  upon  us 
beyond  our  sense  of  danger  and  deliberate  efforts  to  meet  it. 
It  is  a  work  that  no  legislation  alone  can  i-each,  and  nothing 
but  an  undivided,  earnest,  decided  public  sentiment  can 
achieve  ;  and  that,  too,  not  by  anniversary  resolutions  and 
fourth  of  July  orations,  but  by  well  systematized  voluntary 
associations :  counting  the  worth  of  our  institutions,  the 
perils  that  surround  them,  and  the  means  and  the  cost  of 
their  preservation,  and  making  up  our  minds  to  meet  the 
exigency. 

I  am  aware  that  our  ablest  patriots  are  looking  out  on  the 
deep,  vexed  with  storms,  with  great  foi-ebodings  and  failings 
of  heart  for  fear  of  the  things  that  are  coming  upon  us  ; 
and  I  perceive  a  spirit  of  impatience  rising,  and  distrust,  in 
respect  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  republic  ;  and  I  am  sure 


beecher's  plea.  361 

ihat  these  fears  are  well  founded,  and  am  glad  that  they 
exist.  It  is  the  star  of  hope  in  our  dark  horizon.  Fear  is 
what  we  need,  as  the  ship  needs  wind  on  a  ixjcking  sea, 
after  a  storm,  to  prevent  foundering.  But  when  our  fear 
and  our  efforts  shall  correspond  with  our  danger,  the  danger 
is  past.  For  it  is  not  the  impossibility  of  self-preservation 
that  threatens  us ;  nor  is  it  the  unwillingness  of  the  nation 
to  pay  the  price  of  the  preservation,  as  she  has  paid  the 
price  of  the  purchase  of  our  hberties.  It  is  inattention  and 
inconsideration,  protracted  till  the  crisis  is  past,  and  the 
things  which  belong  to  our  peace  are  hid  from  our  eyes. 
And  blessed  be  God,  that  the  tokens  of  a  national  waking 
up,  the  harbinger  of  God's  mercy,  are  multiplying  upon  us ! 

There  is  at  the  West  an  enthusiastic  feeling  on-  the  sub- 
ject of  education,  and  nothing  has  so  inspired  us  witli  hope 
as  to  witness  the  susceptibleness  of  the  East  on  the  same 
subject,  and  the  national  fraternal  benevolence  with  which 
you  are  ready  to  put  forth  a  helping  hand.  We  have  been 
sad,  but  now  we  are  joyful.  We  see,  we  feel  that  East  and 
West,  and  North  and  South  are  waking  up  upon  the  subject : 
a  redeeming  spirit  is  rising  which  will  save  the  nation.  We 
did  not,  in  the  darkest  hour,  believe  that  God  had  brought 
our  fathers  to  this  goodly  land  to  lay  the  foundation  of  reli- 
gious liberty,  and  wrought  such  wonders  in  their  preserva- 
tion, and  raised  their  descendants  to  such  heights  of  civil 
and  religious  prosperity,  only  to  reverse  the  analogy  of  his 
providence,  and  abandon  his  work,  and  though  now  there  be 
clouds  and  the  sea  roaring,  and  men's  hearts  failing,  we  be- 
lieve there  is  light  behind  the  cloud,  and  that  the  eminence 
of  our  danger  is  intended,  under  the  guidance  of  Heaven,  to 
call  forth  and  apply  a  holy,  fraternal  fellowship  between  the 
East  and  West,  which  shall  secure  our  preservation,  and 
make  the  prosperity  of  our  nation  durable  as  time,  and  as 
abundant  as  the  waves  of  the  sea. 

I  would  add,  as  a  motive  to  immediate  action,  that  if  we 

do  fail  in  our  great  experiment  of  self-government,  our  de- 
31 


362  beecuisk's  plea. 

struction  will  be  as  signal  as  the  birth-right  abandoned,  the 
mercies  abused  and  the  provocation  offered  to  beneficent 
Heaven.  The  descent  of  desolation  will  correspond  with 
the  past  elevation.  No  punishments  of  Heaven  are  so  se- 
vere as  those  for  mercies  abused ;  and  no  instrumentality 
employed  in  their  infliction  is  so  dreadful  as  the  wrath  of 
man.  No  spasms  are  like  the  spasms  of  expiring  liberty, 
and  no  waitings  such  as  her  convulsions  extort.  It  took 
Rome  three  hundred  years  to  die  ;  and  our  death,  if  wc 
perish,  will  be  as  much  more  terrific  as  our  intelligence  and 
free  institutions  have  given  to  us  more  bone,  and  sinew  and 
vitality.  May  God  hide  me  from  the  day  when  the  dying 
agonies  of  my  country  shall  begin  !  O,  thou  beloved  land 
bound  together  by  the  ties  of  brotherhood  and  common  in- 
terest, and  perils,  live  forever — one  and  undivided  ? 

But  whatever  we  do,  it  must  be  done  quickly  :  for  there  is 
a  tide  in  human  things  which  waits  not, — moments  on  which 
the  destiny  of  a  nation  balances,  w  hen  the  light  dust  may 
turn  the  right  way  or  the  wrong.  And  such  is  the  condi- 
tion of  our  nation  now.  Mighty  influences  are  bearing  on 
us  in  high  conflict  for  good  or  for  evil, — for  an  immortality 
of  wo,  or  blessedness;  and  a  slight  efibrt  now  may  secure 
what  ages  of  repentance  cannot  recover  when  lost,  and  soon 
the  moment  of  our  practical  preservation  may  have  passed 
away.  We  must  educate  the  whole  nation  while  we  may. 
All — all  who  would  vote  must  be  enlightened,  and  reach- 
ed by  the  restraining  and  preserving  energies  of  Hea- 
vcn.  The  lanes  and  alleys — the  highways  and  hedges — the 
abodes  of  filth  and  sordid  poverty  must  be  entered,  and  the 
young  immortals  sought  out,  and  brought  up  to  the  light  of 
intellectual  and  moral  daylight.  This  can  be  done.  God, 
if  we  are  prompt  and  willing,  will  give  us  the  time.  But  if, 
in  this  our  day,  we  neglect  the  things  that  belong  to  our 
peace,  wc  shall  find  no  place  for  repentance,  though  we 
seek  it  carefully  and  with  tears. 


EXTRACT   FROM   A    DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  NEW  YORK   HISTORICAL  SOCI- 
ETY, DECEMBER  7,  1818. 

BY  GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK. 


The  study  of  the  history  of  most  other  nations,  fills  the 
mind  with  sentiments  not  unlike  those  which  the  American 
traveller  feels  on  entering  the  venerable  and  lofty  cathedral 
of  some  proud  old  city  of  Europe.  Its  solemn  grandeur,  its 
vastness,  its  obscurity,  strike  awe  to  his  heart.  From  the 
richly  painted  windows,  filled  with  sacred  emblems  and 
strange  antique  forms,  a  dim  religious  light  falls  around.  A 
thousand  recollections  of  romance  and  poetry,  and  legendary 
story,  come  thronging  in  upon  him.  He  is  surrounded  by 
the  tombs  of  the  mighty  dead,  rich  with  the  labors  of  ancient 
art,  and  emblazoned  with  the  pomp  of  heraldry. 

What  names  does  he  read  upon  them?  Those  of  princes 
and  nobles  who  are  now  remembered  only  for  their  vices ; 
and  of  sovereigns,  at  whose  death  no  tears  were  shed,  and 
whose  memories  lived  not  an  hour  in  the  affections  of  their 
people.  There,  too,  he  sees  other  names,  long  familiar  to 
him  for  their  guilty  or  ambiguous  fame.  There  rest,  the 
blood-stained  soldier  of  fortune — the  orator,  who  was  ever 
the  ready  apologist  of  tyranny — great  scholars,  who  were 
the  pensioned  flatterers  of  power — and  poets,  who  profaned 
the  high  gift  of  genius,  to  pamper  the  vices  of  a  corrupted 
court. 

Our  own  history,  on  the  contrary,  like  that  poetical 
temple  of  fame,  reared  by  the  imagination  of  Chaucer,  and 
decorated  by  the  taste  of  Pope,  is  almost  exclusively  dedica- 


364  veei'Lanck's  discouksk  before 

ted  to  the  memory  of  the  truly  great.  Or  rather,  like  the 
Pantheon  of  Rome,  it  stands  in  calm  and  severe  beauty 
amid  the  ruins  of  ancient  magnificence  and  "the  toys  of 
modei'n  state."  Within,  no  idle  ornament  encumbers  its 
bold  simplicity.  The  pure  light  of  heaven  enters  from  above 
and  sheds  an  equal  and  serene  radiance  aix>und.  As  the 
eye  wanders  about  its  extent,  it  beholds  the  unadorned  mon- 
uments of  brave  and  good  men  who  have  greatly  bled  or 
toiled  for  their  country,  or  it  rests  on  votive  tablets  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  the  best  benefactors  of  mankind. 

"Patriots  are  here,  in  Freedom's  battles  slain, 
Priests,  whose  long  lives  were  closed  without  a  stafn. 
Bards  worthy  him  who  breathed  the  poet's  mind. 
Founders  of  arts  that  dignify  mankind, 
And  lovers  of  our  race,  whose  labours  gave 
Their  names  a  memory  that  defies  the  grave." 

Virgil— From  the  MS.  of  Bryant. 

Doubtless,  this  is  a  subject  upon  which  we  may  be  justly 
proud.  But  there  is  another  consideration,  which,  if  it  did 
not  naturally  arise  of  itself,  would  be  pressed  upon  us  by  the 
taunts  of  European  criticism. 

What  has  this  nation  done  to  repay  the  world  for  the  bene- 
fits we  have  received  from  others?  We  have  been  repeat- 
edly told,  and  sometimes  too,  in  a  tone  of  affected  impartial- 
ity, that  the  highest  praise  which  can  fairly  be  given  to  the 
American  mind,  is  that  of  possessing  an  enlightened  selfish- 
ness  ;  that  if  the  philosophy  and  talents  of  this  country,  with 
all  their  effects,  were  forever  swept  into  oblivion,  the  loss 
would  be  felt  only  by  ourselves  ;  and  that  if  to  the  accuracy 
of  this  general  charge,  the  labours  ot  Franklin  present  an 
illustrious,  it  is  still  but  a  solitary  exception. 

The  answer  may  be  given,  confidently  and  triumphantly. 
Without  abandoning  the  fame  of  our  eminent  men,  whom 
Europe  has  been  slow  and  reluctant  to  honour,  we  would 
reply  ;  that  the  intellectual  power  of  this  people  has  exerted 


THE    KEW    TORK    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY.  365 

itself  in  conformity  to  the  general  system  of  our  institutions 
and  manners  ;  and  therefore,  that  for  the  proof  of  its  exist- 
ence and  the  measure  of  its  force,  we  must  look  not  so  much 
to  the  works  of  prominent  individuals,  as  to  the  great  aggre- 
gate results  ;  and  if  Europe  has  hitherto  been  wilfully  blind 
to  the  value  of  our  example  and  the  exploits  of  our  sagacity, 
courage,  invention  and  freedom,  the  blame  must  rest  with 
her,  and   not  with  America. 

Is  it  nothing  for  the   universal  good  of  mankind  to  have 
carried  into  successful  operation  a  system  of  self-govern- 
ment, uniting  personal  liberty,  freedom  of  opinion,  and  equal- 
ity of  rights,  with  national  power  and  dignity  ;  such  as  had 
before   existed  only  in  the  Utopian  dreams  of  philosophers? 
Is  it  nothing,  in  moral  science,  to  have  anticipated  in  sober 
reality,  numerous  plans  of  reform  in  civil  and  criminal  juris- 
prudence, which  are,  but  now,  received  as  plausible  theories 
by  the  politicians  and  economists  of  Europe  ?     Is  it  nothing 
to  have  been  able  to  call  forth  on  every  emergency,  either 
in  war  or   peace,  a  body    of  talents   always    equal  to  the 
difficulty?     Is  it  nothing  to  have,  in  less  than  half  a  ccn- 
tury,  exceedingly  improved  the  sciences  of  political  econo- 
my, of  law,  and  of  medicine,  with  all  their  auxiliary  branches  ; 
to  have  enriched  human  knowledge  by  the  accumulation  of 
a  great  mass  of  useful  facts  and  observations,  and  to  have 
augmented  the  power,  and  the  comforts  of  civilized  man,  by 
miracles  of  mechanical  invention  ?     Is  it   nothing  to  have 
given    the   world    examples  of  disinterested  patriotism,    of 
political  wisdom,  of  public  virtue  ;  of  learning,  eloquence, 
and  valor,  never  exerted  save  for  some   praiseworthy  end  ? 
It  is  sufficient  to    have  briefly  suggested   these  considera- 
tions ;  every  mind  would  anticipate  me  in  filling  up  the 
details. 

No — 'Land  of  Liberty  !  thy  children  have  no  cause  to  blush 
for  thee.  What  though  the  arts  have  reared  few  monu- 
ments among  us,  and  scarce  a  trace  of  the  Muse's  footstep 

31* 


366  vbeplanck's  discoukse. 

is  found  in  the  paths  of  our  forests,  or  along  the  banks  of 
our  rivers;  yet  our  soil  has  been  consecrated  by  the  blood  of 
heroes,  and  by  great  and  holy  deeds  of  peace.  Its  wide  ex- 
tent has  become  one  vast  temple  and  hallowed  asylum,  sanc- 
tified by  the  prayers  and  blessings  of  the  persecuted  of  every 
sect,  and  the  wretched  of  all  nations. 

Land  of  Refuge — Land  of  Benedictions  !  Those  prayers 
still  arise,  and  they  still  are  heard  :  «  May  peace  be  within 
thy  walls,  and  plenteousness  within  thy  palaces  !"  "May 
there  be  no  decay,  no  leading  into  captivity,  and  no  com- 
plaining in  thy  streets !"  «  May  truth  flourish  out  of  the 
earth,  and  righteousness  look  down  from  Heaven." 


EXTRACT   FROM   A  DISCOURSE, 

ON   THE    DEATH   OP   ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 
BY  ELIPHALET  NOTT,  D.  D. 

Another  and  an  illustrious  character — a  father — a  general 
— a  statesman — the  very  man  who  stood  on  an  eminence 
and  without  a  rival  among  sages  and  heroes,  the  future  hope 
of  his  country  in  danger — this  man,  yielding  to  the  influ- 
ence of  a  custom,  which  deserves  our  eternal  reprobation, 
has  been  brought  to  an  untimely  end. 

That  the  deaths  of  great  and  useful  men  should  be  partic- 
ularly noticed,  is  equally  the  dictate  of  reason  and  revelation. 
The  tears  of  Israel  flowed  at  the  decease  of  good  Josiah,  and 
to  his  memory  the  funeral  women  chanted  the  solemn  dirge. 
But  neither  examples  nor  arguments  are  necessary  to  wake 
the  sympathies  of  a  grateful  people  on  such  occasions.  The 
death  of  public  benefactors  surcharges  the  heart,  and  it 
spontaneously  disburdens  itself  by  a  flow  of  sorrows.  Such 
was  the  death  of  Washington  :  to  embalm  whose  memory, 
and  perpetuate  whose  deathless  fame,  we  lent  our  feeble,  but 
unnecessary  services.  Such,  also,  and  more  peculiarly  so, 
has  been  the  death  of  Hamilton.  The  tidings  of  the  former 
moved  us,  mournfully  moved  us,  and  we  wept.  The  account 
of  the  latter  chilled  our  hopes  and  curdled  our  blood.  The 
former  died  in  a  good  old  age ;  the  latter  was  cut  off"  in  his 
usefulness.  The  former  was  a  customary  providence  :  we 
saw  in  it,  if  I  may  speak  so,  the  finger  of  God,  and  rested 
in  his  sovereignty.  The  latter  is  not  attended  with  thia 
soothing  circumstance. 


868  NOTt's    DfSCOURSE    ON 

The  fall  of  Hamilton,  owes  its  existence  to  mad  delibera- 
tion, and  is  marked  by  violence.  The  time,  the  place,  the 
circumstances,  are  arranged  with  barbarous  coolness.  The 
instrument  of  death  is  levelled  in  day-light,  and  with  well 
directed  skill  pointed  at  his  heart.  Alas  !  the  event  has 
proven  that  it  was  but  too  well  directed.  Wounded,  mortally 
wounded,  on  the  very  spot  which  still  smoked  with  the  blood 
of  a  favorite  son,  into  the  arms  of  his  indiscreet  and  cruel 
friend,  the  father  fell. 

Ah  !  had  he  fallen  in  the  course  of  nature  ;  or  jeopardiz- 
ing his  life  in  defence  of  his  country  ;  had  he  fallen — but  he 
did  not.     He  fell  in  single  combat — pardon  my  mistake — he 
did  not  fall  in  single  combat.     His  noble  nature  refused  to 
endanger  the  life  of  his  antagonist.     But  he  exposed  his  own 
life.     This  was  his  crime  :  and  the  sacredness  of  my  office 
forbids  that  I  should  hesitate  explicitly  to  declare  it  so.     He 
did  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  so  himself.     "  My  religious  and 
moral  principles  are  strongly  opposed  to  duelling."     These 
are  his  words  before  he  ventured  to  the  field  of  death.     "  I 
view   the  late    transaction    with  sorrow    and    contrition." 
These  are  his  words  after  his  return.     Humiliating  end    of 
illustrious  greatness  !     "  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !"    And 
shall  the  mighty  thus  fall  ?     Thus  shall  the  noblest  lives  be 
sacrificed  and  the  richest  blood  be  spilt  ?     "  Tell  it  not  in 
Gath  ;  publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon  !" 
^    Think  not   that  the  fatal  issue  of  the  late  inhuman  inter- 
view was  fortuitous.     No ;  the  hand  that  guides  unseen  the 
ari'ow  of  the  archer,  steadied  and  directed  the   arm  of  the 
duellist.     And   why   did  it    thus   direct   it  ?     As   a  solemn 
memento — as    a   loud  and  awful  warning  to   a    community 
where  justice  has  slumbered — and  slumbered — and  slumbered 
— while  the  wife  has  been  robbed  of  her  partner,  the  mother 
of  her  hopes,  and  life  after  life  rashly,  and  with  an  air  of 
triumph,  sported  away. 

And  was  there,  O  my  God !    no  other  sacrifice  valuable 
enough — would  the  cry  of  no  other  blood  reach  the  place  of 


THE    DEATH    OF     HAMILTON.  369 

retribution  and  wake  justice,  dozing  over  her  awful  seat  ! 
But  tliough  justice  should  still  slumber,  and  retribution  bo 
delayed,  we,  who  are  the  ministers  of  that  God,  who  will 
judge  the  judges  of  the  world,  and  whose  malediction  rests 
on  him  who  does  his  work  unfaithfully,  we  will  not  keep 
silence. 

********* 

Is  duelling  guilty  ? — So  it  is  absurd.  It  is  absurd  as  a 
punishment,  for  it  admits  of  no  proportion  to  crimes  :  and 
besides,  virtue  and  vice,  guilt  and  innocence,  are  equally  ex. 
posed  by  it,  to  death  or  suffering.  As  a  reparation,  it  is  still 
more  absurd,  for  it  makes  the  injured  liable  to  a  still  greater 
injury.  And  as  the  vindication  of  personal  character,  it  is 
absurd  even  beyond  madness. 

One  man  of  honor,  by  some  inadvertence,  or  perhaps  with 
design,  injures  the  sensibility  of  another  man  of  honor.  In 
perfect  character,  the  injured  gentleman  resents  it.  Ho 
challenges  the  offender.  The  offender  accepts  the  challenge. 
The  time  is  fixed.  The  place  is  agreed  upon.  The  circum- 
stances,  with  an  air  of  solemn  mania,  are  arranged  ;  and  tho 
principals,  with  their  seconds  and  surgeons,  retire  under  tha 
covert  of  some  solitary  hill,  or  upon  the  margin  of  some  un- 
frequented  beach,  to  settle  this  important  question  of  honor, 
by  stabbing  or  shooting  at  each  other.  One  or  the  other, 
or  both  the  pai'ties,  fall  in  this  polite  and  gentlemanlike  con- 
test. And  what  does  this  prove  ?  It  proves  that  one  or 
the  other,  or  both  of  them,  as  the  case  may  be,  arc  marks- 
men.  But  it  affords  no  evidence  that  either  of  them  possess 
honor,  probity  or  talents.  It  is  true,  that  he  who  falls  in 
single  combat,  has  the  honor  of  being  murdered  :  and  ho 
who  takes  his  life,  the  honor  of  a  murderer.  Besides  this,  I 
know  not  of  any  glory  which  can  redound  to  the  infatuated 
combatants,  except  it  be  what  result  from  having  extended 
the  circle  of  wretched  widows,  and  added  to  the  number  of 
hapless  orphans.  And  yet,  terminate  as  it  will,  this  frantio 
meeting,  by  a  kind  of  magic  influence,  entirely  varnishes 


370  nott's  discourse  ox 

over  a  defective  and  smutty  character ;  transforms  vice  to 
virtue,  cowardice  to  courage  ;  makes  falsehood,  truth  ;  guilt, 
innocence — in  one  word,  it  gives  a  new  complexion  to  the 
whole  state  of  things.  The  Ethiopian  changes  his  skin, 
the  leopard  his  spot,  and  the  debauched  and  treacherous — 
having  shot  away  the  infamy  of  a  sorry  life,  comes  back 
from  the  field  of  perfectibility,  quite  regenerated,  and,  in  the 
fullest  sense,  an  honorable  man.  He  is  now  fit  for  the  com- 
pany  of  gentlemen.  He  is  admitted  to  that  company,  and 
should  he  again,  by  acts  of  vileness,  stain  this  purity  of  char- 
acter so  nobly  acquired,  and  should  any  one  have  the  ef. 
frontery  to  say  he  has  done  so,  again  he  stands  ready  to 
vindicate  his  honor,  and  by  another  act  of  homicide,  to  wipe 
away  the  stain  which  has  been  attached  to  it. 

I  might  illustrate  this  article  by  example.  I  might  produce 
instances  of  this  mysterious  transformation  of  character,  in 
the  sublime  circles  of  moral  refinement,  furnished  by  the 
higher  orders  of  the  fashionable  world,  which  the  mere  firing 
of  pistols  has  produced.  But  the  occasion  is  too  awful  for 
irony.  Absurd  as  duelling  is,  were  it  absurd  only,  though 
we  might  smile  at  the  weakness  and  pity  the  folly  of  its 
abettors,  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  seriously  attacking 
them.  But  to  what  has  been  said,  I  add,  that  duelling  is 
rash  and  presumptuous. 

Life  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  it  was  never  bestowed  to  be 
sported  with.  To  each,  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe  has 
marked  out  a  sphere  to  move  in,  and  assigned  a  part  to  act. 
This  part  respects  ourselves  not  only,  but  others  also.  Each 
lives  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

As  in  the  system  of  nature  the  sun  shines,  not  to  display 
its  own  brightness  and  answer  its  own  convenience,  but  to 
warm,  enlighten  and  bless  the  world ;  so  in  the  system  of 
animated  beings,  there  is  a  dependence,  a  correspondence, 
and  a  relation,  through  an  infinitely  extended,  dying  and 
reviving  universe — "in  which  no  man  liveth  to  himself,  and 
no  man  dieth  to  himself."     Friend  is  related  to  friend  ;  the 


THE    DEATH    OF     HAMILTON.  STl 

father  to  his  family ;  the  individual  to  community.  To 
every  member  of  which,  having  fixed  his  station  and  assign- 
ed his  duty,  the  God  of  nature  says,  "  Keep  this  trust — 
defend  this  post."  For  whom  ?  For  thy  friends,  thy  family, 
thy  country.  And  having  received  such  a  charge,  and  for 
such  a  purpose,  to  desert  it  is  rashness  and  temerity. 

Since  the  opinions  of  men  are  as  they  are,  do  you  ask, 
how  you  shall  avoid  the  imputation  of  cowardice,  if  you  do 
not  fight  when  you  are  injured?  Ask  your  family  how  you 
will  avoid  the  imputation  of  cruelty  ;  ask  your  conscience 
how  you  will  avoid  the  imputation  of  guilt :  ask  God  how  you 
will  avoid  his  malediction,  if  you  do  ?  These  are  previous 
questions.  Let  these  first  be  answered,  and  it  will  be  easy 
to  reply  to  any  which  may  follow  them.  If  you  only 
accept  a  challenge,  when  you  believe  in  your  conscience, 
that  duelling  is  wrong,  you  act  the  coward.  The  dastardly 
fear  of  the  world  governs  you.  Awed  by  its  menaces,  you 
conceal  your  sentiments,  appear  in  disguise,  and  act  in  guilty 
conformity  to  principles  not  your  own,  and  that  too  in  the 
most  solemn  moment,  and  when  engaged  in  an  act  which 
exposes  you  to  death. 

But  if  it  be  rashness  to  accept,  how  passing  rashness  is  it, 
in  a  sinner,  to  give  a  challenge  ?  Does  it  become  him, 
whose  life  is  measured  out  by  crimes,  to  be  extreme  to  mark, 
and  punctilious  to  resent,  whatever  is  amiss  in  others? 
Must  the  duellist,  who  now  disdaining  to  forgive,  so  impe- 
riously demands  satisfaction  to  the  uttermost — must  this 
man  himself,  trembling  at  the  recollection  of  his  offences, 
presently  appear  a  suppliant  before  the  mercy-seat  of  God  ? 
Imagine  this,  and  the  case  is  not  imaginary,  and  you  cannot 
conceive  an  instance  of  greater  inconsistency,  or  of  more 
presumptuous  arrogance.  Therefore,  "  avenge  not  your- 
selves, but  rather  give  place  unto  wrath  ;  for  vengeance  is 
mine,  I  will  repay  it,  saith  the  Lord."  Do  you  ask,  then,  how 
you  shall  conduct  towards  your  enemy,  who  hath  lightly 
done  you  wrong  ?     If  he  be  hungry,  feed  him ;  if  naked, 


372  NOTX'S    DISCOURSE    OV 

clothe  him  ;  if  thir  sty,  give  him  drink.  Such,  had  you  pre- 
ferred your  question  to  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  answer  he  had 
given  you.  By  observing  which,  you  will  usually  subdue, 
and  always  act  more  honorably  than  your  enemy. 

I  feel,  my  brethren,  as  a  minister  of  Jesus  and  a  teacher 
of  his  gospel,  a  noble  elevation  on  this  article.  Compare 
the  conduct  of  the  Christian,  acting  in  conformity  to  the 
principles  of  religion,  and  of  the  duellist,  acting  in  conform- 
ity to  the  principles  of  honor,  and  let  reason  say,  which 
bears  the  marks  of  the  most  exalted  greatness.  Compare 
them,  and  let  reason  say,  which  enjoys  the  most  calm  seren- 
ity of  mind  in  time,  and  which  is  likely  to  receive  the 
plaudit  of  his  Judge  in  immortality.  God,  from  his  throne, 
beholds  not  a  nobler  object  on  his  footstool,  than  the  man 
•who  loves  his  enemies,  pities  their  errors,  and  forgives  the 
injuries  they  do  him.  This  is,  indeed,  the  very  spirit  of  the 
heavens.  It  is  the  image  of  His  benignity,  whose  glory  fills 
them. 

To  return  to  the  subject  before  us — guilty,  absurd  and 
rash,  as  duelling  is,  it  has  its  advocates.  And  had  it  not 
had  its  advocates — had  not  a  strange  preponderance  of 
opinion  been  in  favor  of  it,  never,  O  lamentable  Hamilton ! 
hadst  thou  thus  fallen,  in  the  midst  of  thy  days,  and  before 
thou  hadst  reached  the  zenith  of  thy  glory  ! 

O,  that  I  possessed  the  talent  of  eulogy,  and  that  I  might 
be  permitted  to  indulge  the  tenderness  of  friendship,  in  pay- 
ing the  last  tribute  to  his  memory  !  O  that  I  were  capable 
of  placing  this  great  man  before  you !  Could  I  do  this,  I 
should  furnish  you  with  an  argument,  the  most  practical, 
the  most  plain,  the  most  convincing,  except  that  drawn  from 
the  mandate  of  God,  that  was  ever  furnished  against  duelling 
— that  horrid  practice,  which  has  in  an  awful  moment,  robbed 
the  world  of  such  exalted  worth.  But  I  cannot  do  this  ;  I  can 
only  hint  at  the  variety  and  exuberance  of  his  excellence. 

The  Man,  on  whom  nature  seems  originally  to  have  im- 
pressed the  stamp  of  greatness,  whose  genius  beamed,  from 


THE    DEATH    OF    HAMILTON.  373 

fhe  retirement  of  collegiate  life,  with  a  radiance  which  daz- 
zled, and  a  loveliness  which  charmed  the  eye  of  sages. 

The  Hero,  called  from  his  sequestered  retreat,  whose  first 
appearance  in  the  field,  though  a  stripling,  conciliated  the 
esteem  of  Washington,  our  good  old  father.  Moving  by 
whose  side,  during  all  the  perils  of  the  revolution,  our  young 
chieftain  was  a  contributor  to  the  veteran's  glory,  the  guar- 
dian of  his  person,  and  the  copartner  of  his  toils. 

The  Conqueror,  who,  sparing  of  human  blood,  when  victory 
favored,  stayed  the  uplifted  arm,  and  nobly  said  to  the  van- 
quished  enemy,  <'Live  !" 

The  Statesman,  the  correctness  of  whose  principles,  and 
the  strength  of  whose  mind,  are  inscribed  on  the  records  of 
Congress,  and  on  the  annals  of  the  council  chamber  ;  whose 
genius  impressed  itself  upon  the  constitution  of  his  country  ; 
and  whose  memory,  the  government,  illustrious  fabric,  rest- 
ing on  this  basis,  will  perpetuate  while  it  lasts  :  and  shaken 
by  the  violence  of  party,  should  it  fall,  which  may  heaven 
avert,  his  prophetic  declarations  will  be  found  inscribed  on 
its  ruins. 

The  Counsellor,  who  was  at  once  the  pride  of  the  bar  and 
the  admiration  of  the  court  ;  whose  apprehensions  were 
quick  as  lightning,  and  whose  developement  of  truth  was 
luminous  as  its  path  ;  whose  argument  no  change  of  circum- 
stances could  embarrass  ;  whose  knowledge  appeared  intui- 
tive ;  and  who,  by  a  single  glance,  and  with  as  much  facility 
as  the  eye  of  the  eagle  passes  over  the  landscape,  surveyed 
the  whole  field  of  controversy ;  saw  in  what  way  truth 
might  be  most  successfully  defended,  and  how  error  must  be 
approached  ;  and  who,  without  ever  stopping,  ever  hesitating, 
by  a  rapid  and  manly  march,  led  the  listening  judge  and  the 
fascinated  juror,  step  by  step,  through  a  delightsome  region, 
brightening  as  he  advanced,  till  his  argument  rose  to  demon- 
stration, and  eloquence  was  rendered  useless  by  conviction  ; 
whose  talents  were  employed  on  the  side  of  righteousness  ; 

whose  voice,  whether  in  the  council-chamber,  or  at  the  bar 
32 


374  nott's  discourse  oir 

of  justice,  was  virtue's  consolation  ;  at  whose  approach  op- 
pressed humanity  felt  a  secret  rapture,  and  the  heart  of 
injured  innocence  leapt  for  joy. 

Where  Hamilton  was — in  whatever  sphere  he  moved,  the 
friendless  had  a  friend,  the  fatherless  a  father,  and  the  poor 
man,  though  unable  to  reward  his  kindness,  found  an  advo- 
cate. It  was  when  the  rich  oppressed  the  poor  ;  when  the 
powerful  menaced  the  defenceless  ;  when  truth  was  disre- 
garded,  or  the  eternal  principles  of  justice  violated ;  it  was 
on  these  occasions,  that  he  exerted  all  his  strength  ;  it  was 
on  these  occasions,  that  he  sometimes  soared  so  high  and 
shone  with  a  radiance  so  transcendent,  I  had  almost  said,  so 
"heavenly,  as  filled  those  around  him  with  awe,  and  gave  to 
him  the  force  and  authority  of  a  prophet." 

The  Patriot,  whose  integrity  baffled  the  scrutiny  of  in- 
quisition ;  whose  manly  virtue  never  shaped  itself  to  cir- 
cumstances ;  who,  always  great,  always  himself,  stood 
amidst  the  varying  tides  of  party,  firm  like  the  rock,  which, 
far  from  land,  lifts  its  majestic  top  above  the  waves,  and  re- 
mains unshaken  by  the  storms  which  agitate  the  ocean. 

The  Friend,  who  knew  no  guile — whose  bosom  was  trans- 
parent and  deep  ;  in  the  bottom  of  whose  heart  was  rooted 
every  tender  and  sympathetic  virtue  ;  whose  various  worth 
opposing  parties  acknowledged  while  alive,  and  on  whose 
tomb  they  unite,  with  equal  sympathy  and  grief,  to  heap 
their  honors. 

I  know  he  had  his  failings.  I  see,  on  the  picture  of  his 
life — a  picture  rendered  awful  by  greatness,  and  luminous  by 
virtue,  some  dark  shades.  On  these,  let  the  tear,  that  pities 
human  weakiifiss,  fall :  on  these,  let  the  veil,  which  covers 
human  frailty,  rest.  Asa  hero,  as  a  statesman,  as  a  patriot, 
he  lived  nobly  :  and  would  to  God  I  could  add,  he  nobly  fell. 
Unwilling  to  admit  his  error  in  this  respect,  I  go  back  to 
the  period  of  discussion.  I  see  him  resisting  the  threaten- 
ed interview.  I  imagine  myself  present  in  his  chamber. 
Various  reasons,  for  a  time,  seem  to  hold  his  determination 


THE    DEATH    OP    HAMILTOX.  375 

in  arrest.     Various  and  moving  objects  pass  before  him, 
and    speak  a  dissuasive  language.      His    country,    which 
may  need  his  counsels    to  guide,   and  his  arm  to  defend, 
utters    her    veto.      The   partner    of   his    youth,    already 
covered    with    weeds,    and  whose   tears    flow    down    into 
her    bosom,  intercedes  !      His  babos,  stretching  out  their 
little  hands  and  pointing  to  a  weeping  mother,  with   lisping 
eloquence,  but  eloquence  which   reaches   a   parent's  heart, 
cry  out,  "  Stay,  stay,  dear  papa,  and  Uve  for  us  !"     In   the 
mean  time,  the  spectre  of  a  fallen  son,  pale  and  ghastly,  ap- 
proaches, opens  his  bleeding  bosom,  and  as  the  harbinger  of 
death,  points  to  the  yawning  tomb,  and  warns  a  hesitating 
father  of  the  issue  !     He  pauses  :  reviews  these  sad  objects: 
and  reasons  on  the  subject.     I  admire  his   magnanimity,  I 
approve  his  reasoning,  and  I  wait  to  hear  him  reject,  with 
indignation,    the   murderous   proposition,  and  to    see   him 
spurn  from  his  presence  the  presumptuous  bearer  of  it.    But 
I  wait  in  vain.     It  was  a  moment  in  which  his  great  wisdom 
forsook  him — a  moment  in  which  Hamilton  was  not  himself. 
He  yielded  to  the  force  of  an  imperious  custom  :  and  yield- 
ing, he  sacrificed  a  Ufe  in  which  all  had  an  interest — and  he 
is  lost — lost  to  his  country,  lost  to  his  family,  lost  to  us.     For 
this  act,  because  he  disclaimed  it,  and  was  penitent,  I  forgive 
him.     But  there  are  those  whom  I  cannot  forgive.     I  mean 
not  his  antagonist  ;  over  whose  erring    steps,  if  there  be 
tears  in  Heaven,  a  pious  mother  looks  down  and  weeps.     If 
he  be  capable  of  feehng,  he  suffers  already  all  that  human- 
ity can  suffer — suffers,  and  wherever  he  may  fly,  will  suffer, 
with  poignant  recollection  of  having  taken  the  life  of  one, 
who  was  too  magnanimous,  in  return,  to  attempt  his  own. 
Had  he  known  this,  it  must  have  paralyzed  his  arm,  while  it 
pointed,  at  so   incorruptible    a   bosom,   the  instrument    of 
death.     Does  he  know  this  now  ?     His  heart,  if  it  be  not 
adamant,  must  soften — if  it  be  not  ice,  must  melt.     But  on 
this  article  I  forbear.     Stained  with  blood  as  he  is,  if  he  be 
penitent,  I  forgive  him — and  if  he  be  not,  before  these  altars. 


279  nott's  uiscotjbse  ow 

where  all  of  us  appear  as  suppliants,  I  wish  not  to  excite  your 
vengeance,  but  rather,  in  behalf  of  an  object,  rendered 
wretched  and  pitiable  by  crime,  to  wake  your  prayers. 

But  I  have  said,  and  I  repeat  it,  there  are  those  whom  I 
cannot  forgive.  I  cannot  forgive  that  minister  at  the  altar, 
who  has  hitherto  forborne  to  remonstrate  on  this  subject.  I 
cannot  forgive  that  public  prosecutor,  who,  intrusted  with 
the  duty  of  avenging  his  country's  wrongs,  has  seen  those 
wrongs,  and  taken  no  measures  to  avenge  them.  I  cannot 
forgive  that  judge  upon  the  bench,  or  that  governor  in  the 
chair  of  state,  who  has  lightly  passed  over  such  offences.  I 
cannot  forgive  the  public,  in  whose  opinion  the  duellist  finds 
a  sanctuary.  I  cannot  forgive  you,  my  brethren,  who  till 
this  late  hour,  have  been  silent,  while  successive  murders 
were  committed.  No  ;  I  cannot  forgive  you,  that  you  have 
not,  in  common  with  the  freemen  of  this  state,  raised  your 
voice  to  the  powers  that  be,  and  loudly  and  explicitly  dc- 
manded  an  execution  of  your  laws ;  demanded  this  in  a  man- 
ner, which,  if  it  did  not  reach  the  ear  of  government,  would 
at  least  have  reached  the  heavens,  and  plead  your  excuso 
before  the  God  that  filleth  them — in  whose  presence  as  I 
stand,  I  should  not  feel  myself  innocent  of  the  blood  that 
crieth  against  us,  had  I  been  silent.  But  I  have  not  been  silent. 
Many  of  you  who  hear  me,  are  my  witnesses — the  walls  of 
yonder  temple,  where  I  have  heretofore  addressed  you,  aro 
my  witnesses,  how  freely  I  have  animadverted  on  this  sub- 
ject, in  the  presence  both  of  those  who  have  violated  the 
laws,  and  of  those  whose  indispensable  duty  it  is  to  see  the 
laws  executed  on  those   who  violate  them. 

I  enjoy  another  opportunity  ;  and  would  to  God,  I  might 
be  permitted  to  approach  for  once  the  late  scene  of  death. 
Would  to  God,  I  could  there  assemble,  on  the  one  side,  tho 
disconsolate  mother  with  her  seven  fatherless  children  ;  and 
on  the  other,  thos3  who  administer  the  justice  of  my  coun- 
try. Could  I  do  this,  I  would  point  them  to  these  sad  ob- 
jects.    I  would  entreat  them,  by  the  agonies  of  bereaved 


THE    DEATH    OP    HAMILTON.  377 

fondness,  to  listen  to  the  widow's  heartfelt  groans ;  to  mark 
the  orphan's  sighs  and  tears.  And  having  done  this,  I 
would  uncover  the  breathless  corpse  of  Hamilton — I  would 
lift  from  his  gaping  wound,  his  bloody  mantle — I  would  hold 
it  up  to  heaven  before  them,  and  I  would  ask,  in  the  name  of 
God,  I  would  ask,  whether,  at  the  sight  of  it,  they  felt  no 
compunction  ? 

You  will  ask,  perhaps,  what  can  be  done,  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  a  practice  which  has  yet  so  many  advocates?  I 
answer,  nothing — if  it  be  the  deliberate  intention  to  do 
nothing.  But,  if  otherwise,  much  is  within  our  power.  Let, 
then,  the  governor  see  that  the  laws  are  executed  ;  let  the 
council  displace  the  man  who  offends  against  their  majesty : 
let  courts  of  justice  frown  from  their  bar,  as  unworthy  to 
appear  before  them,  the  murderer  and  his  accomplices  ;  let 
the  people  declare  him  unworthy  of  their  confidence  who 
engages  in  such  sanguinary  contests  ;  let  this  be  done,  and 
should  Ufe  still  bo  taken  in  single  combat,  then  the  govern"or, 
the  council,  the  court,  the  people,  looking  up  to  the  Avenger 
of  sin,  may  say,  "we  are  innocent,  we  are  innocent."  Do 
you  ask,  how  proof  can  be  obtained?  How  can  it  be  avoid- 
ed ?  The  parties  return,  hold  up,  before  our  eyes,  the 
instruments  of  death,  publish  to  the  world  the  circumstances 
of  their  interview,  and  even,  with  an  air  of  insulting  triumph, 
boast  how  coolly  and  deliberately  they  proceeded  in  violating 
one  of  the  most  sacred  laws  of  earth  and  heaven  ! 

Ah !  ye  tragic  shores  of  Hoboken,  crimsoned  with  the 
richest  blood,  I  tremble  at  the  crimes  ye  record  against  us 
— the  annual  register  of  murders  which  you  keep  and  send 
up  to  God !  Place  of  inhuman  cruelty  !  beyond  the  limits  of 
reason,  of  duty  and  of  religion,  where  man  assumes  a  more 
barbarous  nature,  and  ceases  to  be  man.  What  poignant, 
lingering  sorrows  do  thy  lawless  combats  occasion  to  sur- 
viving relatives!  Ye  who  have  hearts  of  pity — ye  who 
have  experienced  the  anguish  of  dissolving  friendship — who 

32* 


378  nott's  uiscouksk  ok  '^' 

have  wept  and  still   weep,   over  the  mouldering  ruins  of  de- 
parted kindred,  ye  can  enter  into  this  reflection. 

O  thou  disconsolate  widow !  robbed,  so  cruelly  robbed, 
and  in  so  short  a  time,  both  of  a  husband  and  a  son,  what 
must  be  the  plenitude  of  thy  sufferings  !  Could  we  approach 
thee,  gladly  would  we  drop  the  tear  of  sympathy,  and  pour 
into  thy  bleeding  bosom  the  balm  of  consolation  !  But  how 
could  we  comfort  her  whom  God  hath  not  comforted  ?  To 
His  throne,  let  us  lift  up  our  voice  and  weep.  O  God !  if 
thou  art  still  the  widow's  husband,  and  the  father  of  the 
fatherless,  if  in  the  fulness  of  thy  goodness  there  be  yet  mer- 
cies in  store  for  miserable  mortals,  pity,  O  pity  this  afflicted 
mother,  and  grant  that  her  hapless  orphans  may  find  a  friend, 
a  benefactor,  a  father  in  Thee  !  On  this  article  I  have 
done  :  and  may  God  add  his  blessing. 

But  I  have  still  a  claim  upon  your  patience.  I  cannot 
here  repress  my  feelings,  and  thus  let  pass  the  present  op- 
portunity. 

"  How  are  the  mighty  fallen."  And,  regardless  as  we 
are  of  vulgar  deaths,  shall  not  the  fall  of  the  mighty  affect  us  ? 
A  short  time  since,  and  he,  who  is  the  occasion  of  our  sor- 
rows, was  the  ornament  of  his  country.  He  stood  on  an 
eminence,  and  glory  covered  him.  From  that  eminence  ho 
has  fallen — suddenly,  forever,  fallen.  His  intercourse  with 
the  living  world  has  now  ended  ;  and  those,  who  would  here- 
after find  him,  must  seek  him  in  the  grave.  There,  cold  and 
lifeless,  is  the  heart  which  just  now  was  the  seat  of  friend- 
ship. There,  dim  and  sightless  is  the  eye,  whose  radiant 
and  enlivening  orb  beamed  with  intelUgence  ;  and  there, 
closed  forever,  are  those  lips,  on  whose  persuasive  accents 
we  have  so  often,  and  so  lately  hung  with  transport !  From 
the  darkness  which  rests  upon  his  tomb,  there  proceeds, 
methinks,  a  light  in  which  it  is  clearly  seen,  that  those  gaudy 
objects,  which  men  pursue,  are  only  phantoms.  In  this 
light,  how  dimly  shines  the  splendor  of  victory  ;  how  hum^ 
ble  appears  the  majesty  of  grandeur  !     The  bubble,  which 


THB    DEATH    OF    HAMILTOX.  379 

seemed  to  have  so  much  solidity,  has  burst ;  and  we  again 
see  that  all  below  the  sun  is  vanity. 

True,  the  funeral  eulogy  has  been  pronounced  ;  the  sad 
and  solemn  procession  has  moved  ;  the  badge  of  mourning 
has  already  been  decreed,  and  presently  the  sculptured  mar- 
ble will  lift  up  its  front,  proud  to  perpetuate  the  name  of 
Hamilton,  and  rehearse  to  the  passing  traveller  his  virtues. 
Just  tributes  of  respect  !  And  to  the  living  useful.  But  to 
him,  mouldering  in  his  narrow  and  humble  habitation,  what 
arc  they  ?     How  vain  !  how  unavailing ! 

Approach,  and  behold,  while  I  lift  from  his  sepulchre  its 
covering  !  Ye  admirers  of  his  greatness  ;  ye  emulous  of  his 
talents  and  his  fame,  approach,  and  behold  him  now.  How 
j)ale  !  How  silent !  No  martial  bands  admire  the  adroit- 
ness of  his  movements  :  no  fascinated  throng  weep,  and 
ni.elt,  and  tremble,  at  his  eloquence !  Amazing  change  !  A 
shroud  !  a  coffin  !  a  narrow,  subterraneous  cabin  !  This  is 
all  that  now  remains  of  Hamilton  !  And  is  this  all  that  re- 
mains of  him  ?  During  a  life  so  transitory,  what  lasting 
monument,  then,  can  our  fondest  hopes  erect ! 
'  My  brethren  !  we  stand  on  the  borders  of  an  awful  gull", 
which  is  swallowing  up  all  things  human.  And  is  there, 
amidst  this  universal  wreck,  nothing  stable,  nothing  abiding, 
nothing  immortal,  on  which  poor,  frail,  dying  man  can 
fasten  ?  Ask  the  hero,  ask  the  statesman,  whose  wisdom 
you  have  been  accustomed  to  revere,  and  he  will  tell  you. 
He  will  tell  you,  did  I  say?  He  has  already  told  you,  from 
his  death-bed,  and  his  illumined  spirit,  still  whispers  from 
the  heavens,  with  well  known  eloquence,  the  solemn  admo- 
nition. 

"Mortals  !  hastening  to  the  tomb,  and  once  the  compan- 
ions of  my  pilgrimage,  take  warning  and  avoid  my  errors  ; 
cultivate  the  virtues  I  have  recommended  ;  choose  the  Sa- 
viour I  have  chosen  ;  live  disinterestedly ;  live  for  immor- 
tality ;  and  would  you  rescue  any  thing  from  final  dissolu- 
tion, lay  it  up  in  God." 


380  '       NOTX'S    DISCOURSE    ON 

Thus  speaks,  methinks,  our  deceased  benefactor,  and  thus 
he  acted  during  his  lust  sad  hours.  To  the  exclusion  of 
every  other  concern,  reUgion  now  claims  all  his  thoughts, 
Jesus !  Jesus,  is  now  his  only  hope.  The  friends  of  Jesus 
are  his  friends  ;  the  ministers  of  the  altar  his  companions. 
While  these  intercede,  he  listens  in  awful  silence,  or  in  pro- 
found submission  whispers  his  assent.  Sensible,  deeply 
sensible  of  his  sins,  he  pleads  no  merit  of  his  own.  He  re- 
pairs to  the  mercy-seat,  and  there  pours  out  his  penitential 
sorrows — there  he  solicits  pardon.  Heaven,  it  should  seem, 
heard  and  pitied  the  suppliant's  cries.  Disburdened  of  his 
sorrows,  and  looking  up  to  God,  he  exclaims,  "  Grace,  rich 
grace."  "  I  have,"  said  he,  clasping  his  dying  hands,  and 
with  a  faltering  tongue,  "I  have  a  tender  reliance  on  the 
mercy  of  God  in  Christ."  In  token  of  this  reliance,  and  as 
an  expression  of  his  faith,  he  receives  the  holy  sacrament ; 
and  having  done  this,  his  mind  becomes  tranquil  and  serene. 
Thus  he  remains,  thoughtful  indeed,  but  unruffled  to  the  last, 
and  meets  death  with  an  air  of  dignified  composure,  and 
with  an  eye  directed  to  the  heavens. 

This  last  act  more  than  any  other,  sheds  glory  on  his  char- 
acter. Every  thing  else  death  eftaces.  Religion  alone 
abides  with  him  on  his  death-bed.  He  dies  a  Christian. 
This  is  all  which  can  be  enrolled  of  him  among  the  archives 
of  eternity.  This  is  all  that  can  make  his  name  great  in 
heaven.  Let  not  the  sneering  infidel  persuade  you  that  this 
last  act  of  homage  to  the  Saviour,  resulted  from  an  enfeebled 
state  of  mental  faculties,  or  from  perturbation  occasioned  by 
the  near  approach  of  death.  No ;  his  opinions  concerning 
the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  validity  of  the 
holy  scriptures,  had  long  been  settled,  and  settled  after  labo- 
rious investigation  and  extensive  and  deep  research.  These 
opinions  were  not  concealed.  I  knew  them  myself.  Some 
of  you,  who  hear  me,  knew  them ;  and  had  his  life  been 
spared,  it  was  his  determination  to  have  them  published  to 
the  world,  together  with  the  facts  and  reasons  on  which  they 
were  founded. 


THE    DEATH    OF     HAMILTON.  381 

At  a  time  when  scepticism,  shallow  and  superficial  indeed, 
but  depraved  and  malignant,  is  breathing  forth  its  pestilen- 
tial vapor,  and  polluting,  by  its  unhallowed  touch,  every 
thing  divine  and  sacred ;  it  is  consoling  to  a  devout  mind 
to  reflect,  that  the  great  and  the  wise,  and  the  good  of  all 
ages,  those  superior  geniuses,  whose  splendid  talents  have 
elevated  them  almost  above  mortality,  and  placed  them  next 
in  order  to  angelic  natures — yes,  it  is  consoling  to  a  devout 
mind  to  reflect,  that  while  dwarfish  infidelity  lifts  up  its  de- 
formed head,  and  mocks  these  illustrious  personages,  though 
living  in  different  ages,  inhabiting  different  countries,  nur- 
tured in  different  schools,  destined  to  different  pursuits,  and 
differing  on  various  subjects,  should  all,  as  if  touched  M'ith 
an  impulse  from  heaven,  agree  to  vindicate  the  -sacrednesa 
of  Revelation,  and  present,  with  one  accord,  their  learning, 
their  talents  and  their  virtue,  on  the  gospel  altar  as  an  offer, 
ing  to  Emanuel. 

This  is  not  exaggeration.  Who  was  it,  that,  overleaping 
the  narrow  bounds  which  had  hitherto  been  set  to  the 
human  mind,  ranged  abroad  through  the  immensity  of  space, 
discovered  and  illustrated  those  laws  by  which  the  Deity 
unites,  binds  and  governs  all  things  ?  Who  was  it,  soaring 
into  the  sublime  of  astronomic  science,  numbered  the  stars 
of  heaven,  measured  their  spheres,  and  called  them  by  their 
names?  It  was  Newton.  But  Newton  was  a  Christian. 
Newton,  great  as  he  was,  received  instruction  from  the  lips, 
and  laid  his  honors  at  the  feet  of  of  Jesus.  Who  was  it  that 
developed  the  hidden  combination,  the  component  parts  of 
bodies  ?  Who  was  it,  dissected  the  animal,  examined  the 
flower,  penetrated  the  eaith,  and  ranged  the  extent  of  or- 
ganic nature  ?  It  was  Boyle.  But  Boyle  was  a  Christian. 
Who  was  it,  that  lifted  the  veil  which  had  for  ages  covered 
the  intellectual  world,  analyzed  the  human  mind,  defined  its 
powers,  and  reduced  its  operations  to  certain  and  fixed  laws  7 
It  was  Locke.     But  Locke  too  was  a  Christian. 

What  more  shall  I  say  ?     For  time  would  fail  me,  to  speak 


882  nott's  discourse  on 

of  Hale,  learned  in  the  law ;  of  Addison,  admired  in  the 
schools  ;  of  Milton,  celebrated  among  the  poets  ;  and  of 
Washington,  immortal  in  the  field  and  cabinet.  To  this  cat- 
alogue of  professing  Christians,  from  among,  if  I  may  speak 
so,  a  higher  order  of  beings,  may  now  be  added  the  name  of 
Alexander  Hamilton — a  name  which  raises  in  the  mind  the 
idea  of  whatever  is  great,  whatever  is  splendid,  whatever  is 
illustrious  in  human  nature  ;  and  which  is  now  added  to  a 
catalogue  which  might  be  lengthened — and  lengthened — and 
lengthened,  with  the  names  of  illustrious  characters,  whose 
lives  have  blessed  society,  and  whose  works  form  a  column 
high  as  heaven ;  a  column  of  learning,  of  wisdom  and  of 
greatness,  which  will  stand  to  future  ages,  an  eternal  monu- 
ment  of  the  transcendent  talents  of  the  advocates  of  Chris, 
tianity,  when  every  fugitive  leaf,  from  the  pen  of  the  canting 
infidel  witlings  of  the  day,  shall  be  swept  by  the  tide  of  time 
from  the  annals  of  the  world,  and  buried  with  the  names  of 
their  authors  in  oblivion. 

To  conclude.  "  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !"  Fallen 
before  the  desolating  hand  of  death.  Alas!  the  ruins  of  the 
tomb!  The  ruins  of  the  tomb  are  an  emblem  of  the  ruins 
of  the  world  ;  when  not  an  individual,  but  a  universe,  already 
marred  by  sin  and  hastening  to  dissolution,  shall  agonize  and 
die  !  Directing  your  thoughts  from  the  one,  fix  them  for  a 
moment  on  the  other.  Anticipate  the  concluding  scene,  the 
final  catastrophe  of  nature :  when  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
man  shall  be  seen  in  heaven ;  when  the  Son  of  man  himself 
shall  appear  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  and  send  forth  judg. 
ment  unto  victory.  The  fiery  desolation  envelopes  towns, 
palaces  and  fortresses  ;  the  heavens  pass  away  !  the  earth 
melts !  and  all  those  magnificent  productions  of  art,  which 
ages,  heaped  on  ages,  have  reared  up,  are  in  one  awful  day 
reduced  to  ashes. 

Against  the  ruins  of  that  day,  as  well  as  the  ruins  of  tho 
the  tomb  which  precede  it,  the  gospel,  in  the  cross  of  its 
great  High  Priest,  offers  you  all  a  sanctuary  ;  a  sanctuary 


THE    DEATH    OF    HAMILTON.  383 

secure  and  abiding  ;  a  sanctuary,  which  no  lapse  of  time^ 
nor  change  of  circumstances,  can  destroy.  No  ;  neither  Ufa 
nor  death.     No  ;  neither  principahties  nor  powers. 

Every  thing  else  is  fugitive  ;  every  thing  else  is  mutable ; 
every  thing  else  will  fail  you.  But  this,  the  citadel  of  the 
Christian's  hopes,  will  never  fail  you.  Its  base  is  adamant. 
It  is  cemented  with  the  richest  blood.  The  ransomed  of  the 
Lord  crowd  its  portals.  Embosomed  in  the  dust  which  it  en- 
closes, the  bodies  of  the  redeemed  "  rest  in  hope."  On  its 
top  dwells  the  Church  of  the  first  born,  who  in  delightful 
response  with  the  angels  of  light,  chant  redeeming  love.  A- 
gainst  this  citadel  the  tempest  beats,  and  around  it  the  storm 
rages,  and  spends  its  force  in  vain.  Immortal  in  its  nature, 
and  incapable  of  change,  it  stands,  and  stands  firm,  amidst 
the  ruins  of  a  mouldering  world,  and  endures  forever. 

Thither  fly,  ye  prisoners  of  hope ! — that  when  earth,  air, 
elements,  shall  have  passed  away,  secure  of  existence  and 
felicity,  you  may  join  with  saints  in  glory,  to  perpetuate  the 
song  which  lingered  on  the  faltering  tongue  of  Hamilton. 
"  Grace — rich  Grace." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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